Mississippi State would once again take the show on the road, this time for a three-game weekend slate deep in the heart of Texas. The Bulldogs would face Rice, Arizona, and Oklahoma State in the 2025 Astros Foundation College Classic. In one of the best classics of the non-conference slate, Mississippi had its hands full with two, maybe three, legitimate College World Series contenders, with the third being a dark horse in the American Athletic Conference.

In the Astros Foundation College Classic opening game, the 18th-ranked Mississippi State faced off against the Rice Owls from the American Athletic Conference.

As it is every Friday for Mississippi State, it was Pico Kohn day on the mound as the Bulldogs ace would face off against the pesky Rice offense. Pico would give the Bulldogs 6.1 innings of solid pitching, giving up three runs, four hits, and six strikeouts. Chase Hungate would come in to pitch in the 7th for the Bulldogs. With the Bulldogs run ruling Rice, Hungate finished his day with one hit, no runs, striking out two Owls batters.

One major shakeup came to the lineup on Friday morning. Coach Lemonis announced that Hunter Hines would not make his usual starting role at first base. Gehrig Frei would get the nod, hoping to ignite the Bulldogs’ offensive numbers. The Bulldogs’ scoring slump continued on Tuesday night in the 6-5 loss to Troy.

Mississippi State opened a 3-0 lead on Rice through three innings off a pair of base hits that scored the three runs. Rice would respond in the top half of the 5th inning with a two-run shot to left field from Hiram Bocachica, making it 3-2 in favor of the Bulldogs. A three-run bottom of the 7th inning, capped off by home runs from Aaron Downs, Ace Reese, and Nolan Stevens, would give the Bulldogs a rule-ruled 14- 3 victory over Rice to open the Astros Foundation College Classic.

It might not have happened as early in the game as Coach Lemonis had liked, but the bats came alive on Friday; combined with solid pitching, they propelled the Bulldogs past Rice to start the Astros Foundation College Classic with a bang. Fourteen runs across the board, a strong outing from Pico Kohn, and the environment around the team heading into the weekend are about as good as they come.

Mississippi State will face Arizona in game two of the Astros Foundation College Classic on Saturday afternoon with a first pitch at 3:05.