Coming off a disaster of a performance on Friday night, the Bulldogs welcome the Gators back to the Dude for Saturday night’s game two of the three-game series. With the bright light of Dudy Noble beaming down the picture-perfect field, the Bulldogs look to even the series, channeling the magic of playing under the lights at the Dude while avoiding the issues of yesterday from rearing their ugly heads.

Friday night happened; there’s no way around it. That run-rule-shortened game happened, but Saturday was a new day for the Bulldogs as they looked to flush yesterday’s problems to create a chance for a win a Bulldogs win to even the series.

Florida would jump out to an early 1-0 lead over the Bulldogs in the top half of the first inning. Noah Sullivan would respond with a two-run shot to left center to take a 2-1 lead for the Bulldogs in the bottom half of the first inning. Florida would tie it in the top half of the 4th inning off a base hit that scored one. Mississippi State would put together a monster four-run in the bottom of the 5th to make it 6-3 in advantage of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Florida would claw their way back into the game with a six-run 7th inning to take a 9-6 lead over Mississippi State. Reed Stallman would hammer a two-run shot to deep right field in the bottom of the 7th inning to cut the Gators lead to 9-8. Florida would add two more insurance runs to make it 11-8, heading to the bottom of the 9th inning.

Evan Siary gave the Bulldogs four complete innings tonight, giving up four hits on two runs while striking out six before being replaced by Ben Davis before the start of the 5th. Siary did his job well on Saturday night; he finished the night by throwing 82 pitches. Davis completed his night at the beginning of the 7th inning after giving Mississippi State two complete innings, giving up two hits on two runs while striking one Florida batter. As it would go, the bullpen collapsed from there, with Nate Williams leading the charge by allowing a six-run in Florida’s 7th inning that saw the Gators take a 9-6 lead over the Bulldogs.

Saturday night was just another weird game for Mississippi State. After an impressive start from Evan Siary, the bullpen lit the entire game on fire while the offense put together enough runs to give the Bulldogs a chance at tying the series with Florida. Yet, the Gators had too much in the tank as they took the series with a game two victory over Mississippi State.

Mississippi State will look to salvage the series at 2:00 on Easter Sunday.

Photo Credits- Florida and Mississippi baseball accounts on X