STARKVILLE — A locked-in Hunter Hines is a scary proposition for the rest of the Southeastern Conference.
By his very high standards, Mississippi State’s junior first baseman got off to a slow start this season after hitting 22 home runs a year ago. It took Hines 15 games to hit his first long ball of 2024, and opposing teams would occasionally even intentionally walk Dakota Jordan to pitch to him.
But as MSU enters the stretch run, Hines is carrying one of the SEC’s hottest offenses. After going deep three times last weekend to help the Bulldogs win a series at Vanderbilt, Hines homered in each of his first two at-bats Friday night as No. 16 MSU run-ruled No. 23 Alabama 13-3 in the series opener.
“We’re really hard to beat when Hunter Hines plays like that,” Bulldogs head coach Chris Lemonis said. “You look at the big games Hunter’s had this year, when he hits like that, we win. He just shows you how talented he is. … The last two years, that’s pretty much what he’s been. It’s fun because he’s got a smile on his face. He made a great defensive play. It’s fun to see him back to his normal self.”
The lefty slugger now has five home runs in his last four games, and all of them have come against left-handed pitching. He took Crimson Tide ace left-hander Greg Farone deep for a three-run shot in the first inning, then led off the third with a solo homer. David Mershon and Johnny Long each added RBI singles to help MSU (31-15, 13-9 SEC) build a 6-0 lead after three before the Bulldogs poured it on in the fourth.
Bryce Chance led off that inning with his fifth home run of the season to chase Farone from the game. Chance was hitless in the Vanderbilt series, although he hit several balls sharply for outs, but has taken to his newfound role in the leadoff spot, reaching base three times Friday.
“The best thing about Bryce is he doesn’t strike out because he doesn’t swing and miss,” Lemonis said. “Sometimes that’s not good for your leadoff because if he gets a slider on 1-0, he’s putting that ball in play. We’ve debated it, but like I always tell people, if you have a lineup that’s working and you’re winning, I have a hard time going away from it.”
Relief pitcher Coulson Buchanan walked both Jordan and Hines and then plunked Connor Hujsak to force in another run, and then Amani Larry brought everyone home by punishing a hanging breaking ball and blasting it into the left field lounge for a grand slam, his first homer in nearly a month.
Larry was recently moved out of the leadoff spot in favor of Chance and is now MSU’s primary designated hitter after ceding second base to freshman Ethan Pulliam, but he is one of just three Bulldogs — along with Jordan and Hines — to start every game this year.
“Not one time has he put his head down or acted like a wimp,” Lemonis said. “He actually works too hard. This kid lives the game, dies the game, and he’s such a great player. We’ve all seen it. But it’s been a little funky for a couple weeks for him. It’s good to see him have a good night and get rewarded for all his hard work.”
MSU ace Khal Stephen held a strong Alabama lineup scoreless for four innings but ran into trouble in the fifth, with six of the first seven batters reaching base as the Crimson Tide (28-17, 9-13) plated three runs. He escaped further damage, though, on a pop-up and an infield grounder and earned his seventh win of the season. Gavin Black closed things out with two scoreless innings, striking out four.
The Bulldogs pushed the game back into run-rule territory on a sixth-inning sacrifice fly by Pulliam, who was the only MSU starter not to get a hit.
“It’s fun,” Hines said. “I signed up for this. We’re just having fun playing baseball and we love each other. I couldn’t ask for anything else.”
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