STARKVILLE — Perhaps no pitcher exemplifies the turnaround Mississippi State’s staff has made this spring quite like Tyson Hardin.
Sure, the likes of Jurrangelo Cijntje and Tyler Davis have made drastic improvements with new pitching coach Justin Parker on board. But Hardin’s 2023, his first year as a Bulldog after spending two seasons at Daytona (Fla.) State College, was particularly difficult. In 19 ⅔ innings, Hardin pitched to a team-worst 12.81 ERA, and in Southeastern Conference play, it was an even more gruesome 21.38 in just eight innings of work.
This year? After a pair of rough outings early against Austin Peay and Georgia Southern, Hardin has not allowed a run in his last 10 appearances, covering 15 ⅔ innings. And he played a key role in both games of Sunday’s seven-inning doubleheader against last-place Auburn, getting the final out for a save in the opener and pitching two scoreless innings in the nightcap, allowing the Bulldogs to come back and sweep both the twin bill and the three-game series.
“Last year was hard,” Hardin said. “But I trusted myself, I trusted this coaching staff with Parker coming in and just got to work and got after it. I made some changes and it’s paid off.”
MSU (26-14, 10-8 SEC) won Sunday’s first game 3-1 behind 6 ⅔ outstanding innings from Cijntje, but trailed by that same score going into the bottom of the seventh in the finale. After Auburn starter Carson Myers held the Bulldog bats in check for six innings, MSU jumped on reliever Will Cannon. Connor Hujsak and Bryce Chance each singled to start the frame, and Logan Kohler’s double into the gap in right-center brought them both home to tie the game.
Aaron Downs pinch-ran for Kohler at second base but strayed too far off the bag with Ethan Pulliam trying to bunt him over, and catcher Carter Wright nailed him with an excellent pickoff throw. But after Hardin retired the heart of the Tigers’ order in the top of the eighth, Amani Larry led off the bottom half with a double, and although he too ran himself into an out at home, the Bulldogs still had runners at first and second with two outs with Hujsak at the plate.
On a 2-1 pitch, Hujsak laced a liner that deflected off third baseman Deric Fabian’s glove into left field, and Dakota Jordan beat the throw home to give MSU a 4-3 victory and its first sweep in an SEC series since 2021 at Alabama and its first sweep at home since earlier that year against Texas A&M.
“(Hitting behind Jordan and Hunter Hines) definitely helps,” Hujsak said. “I mean, who wants to pitch to those two? Getting to watch their at-bats gives me an understanding of how pitchers are going to pitch me. It really helps me. They’ve been unbelievably good all year, so hitting behind them is super fun.”
Cijntje held Auburn (19-20, 2-16) to just three hits in the first game, working out of a two-out jam in the first inning but mostly avoiding trouble thereafter. His only blemish was a fifth-inning solo home run by Kaleb Freeman, which came after the Bulldogs had taken the lead with two runs in the fourth on an RBI single by Ethan Pulliam and a throwing error. Hines gave MSU an insurance run with an RBI single in the sixth.
After Cijntje allowed a walk and a single with two outs in the seventh, Cam Schuelke entered and yielded an infield hit to load the bases. But instead of turning to a lefty to face a strong left-handed hitter in Ike Irish, the Bulldogs turned to Hardin, who got Irish to fly out to right field to end the game.
“He was the MVP of the day,” head coach Chris Lemonis said. “He’s made a big jump. Last season, he ain’t doing that. It’s a two-seamer, it’s power, it’s a cutter, it’s confidence. When we got him, he was transitioning from a hitter to a pitcher, so his history of pitching isn’t as much as some of the other guys. He’s developing into one of the better relievers in our league.”
MSU struck first in the second game as well. Chance legged out an infield single with two outs in the second inning, extending his hitting streak to 10 games, and he advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Kohler.
A transfer from Memphis, Kohler — who will face his former team Tuesday when the Bulldogs travel to play the Tigers — entered the weekend in an extended funk but finished the series 4-for-7 with four runs batted in.
“He’s feeling good about himself right now,” Lemonis said. “He’s a good player. That’s what we need in our lineup. We need the Logan Kohlers. We’ve had a couple guys just have OK years, and hopefully they’ll have great finishes.”
Brooks Auger pitched well in a spot start through three innings but ran into some trouble of his own making in the fourth, issuing a single and two walks to load the bases with no outs. Cole Cheatham relieved him for a left-on-left matchup against the dangerous Irish but allowed another walk to force in a run. Schuelke was the next man out of the bullpen, and he settled things down, but not before two more runs came home on infield grounders.
Freshman Nolan Stevens got through the fifth and sixth without any trouble before handing the ball off to Hardin, and the bats woke up just in time after Myers departed.
“This mentality sometimes with kids, it’s like, ‘Oh, we got the weekend (series win),’” Lemonis said. “No, we’re trying to get every game. We’re still fighting to gain some back. That’s been the challenge. … It’s never about a weekend or getting two out of three. It’s just the next game, and that’s the way we were trying to play it.”
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