HOOVER, Ala. — The four top seeds in the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament received byes to Wednesday’s second round. And for the first time since 2010, all four lost and will be playing in elimination games Thursday, including fourth-seeded Texas A&M.
A two-run, two-out single by Mississippi State's Connor Hujsak in the ninth inning broke a tie and gave the Bulldogs a 5-3 victory over the Aggies at the Hoover Met. Hujsak's swing put A&M’s continuation in the tournament at risk. With a top-8 seed in the NCAA Tournament all but wrapped up for the Aggies (44-12), head coach Jim Schlossnagle said he wasn’t going to use any of his key pitchers on short rest in the conference tournament.
Wednesday, he gave junior right-hander Brad Rudis only his second start of the season on the heels of his first start on Sunday against Arkansas. In similar fashion to that game, Rudis was used as an opener, running through the Bulldog order once before being relieved by freshman left-hander Kaiden Wilson in the third inning. Those first two Aggie pitchers allowed Mississippi State (38-19) to score three runs on seven hits.
That kept the Bulldogs in the lead for the majority of the game. Mississippi State scored first in the second inning on a wild pitch with two outs that plated Amani Larry who a one-out single and reached third on Logan Kohler's double. In the third inning, David Mershon hit a two-run home run to deep left field off Wilson.
Mississippi State pitcher Khal Stephe.