Mississippi State baseball puts up valiant effort, falls in extra innings to No. 1 UCLA
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Mississippi State baseball kept it close but couldn’t quite get the job done Sunday night against No. 1 UCLA. The Bulldogs posted 14 hits to UCLA’s 8, but ultimately left too many runners on base in critical moments in an 8-7 loss.
With that, Mississippi State baseball has suffered its first loss of the season. However, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t a bad weekend for the Bulldogs. Mississippi State downed both Arizona State and Virginia Tech before dropping a thriller against the Bruins.
It wasn’t the best start for Mississippi State on Sunday, admittedly. UCLA took an early 3-0 advantage before Reed Stallman finally put the Bulldogs on the board with a 2-run shot to right field. Ryder Woodson drove in a run a few minutes later, knotting the score at 3-all.
The Bulldogs added a pair of runs in the 7th and 8th, but that’s when things started to slip. UCLA showed why it’s the No. 1 team in the nation, scoring 2 straight runs to force extra innings. The Bruins then tacked on 3 extra runs to start the 10th frame.
Most other teams would probably stall out at this point, but Mississippi State’s offense wouldn’t go down quietly. Reed Stallman rocketed a 2-run home run to right field once again, his second homer of the day, to bring the score within 1. However, the late push just wasn’t enough. UCLA recorded the 3rd and final out minutes later.
With that, Mississippi State sits at 11-1 on the season. The Bulldogs will be back in action on Tuesday against Southern Miss.
Mississippi State has an 8% chance to win the national title this season, per Kalshi. Here’s a look at some of the other top odds:
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
