Three Takeaways From Mississippi State Baseball's 15-9 Loss To Oklahoma

To continue the Frisco College Baseball Classic, Mississippi State baseball took on Oklahoma and ultimately fell, 9-15 in what marked its first road game of the season.

While the end outcome obviously was not what the Bulldogs were after, there were both some positives and negatives surrounding the team's overall performance. Here's a look into three things of note from the contest:

1. Graham Yntema was off the mound after 2.2 innings.

For the State sophomore, this is Yntema's first season seeing action for the Bulldogs after originally starting off his college baseball career at Lawson State Community College, where he was named ACCC Pitcher of the Year twice. Already this season he has started pitching for four games. In the past three, he has started the Bulldogs won.

In this particular contest, Yntema tired out after throwing for 2.2 innings. Sophomore Tyson Hardin was put in to pitch for Yntema until junior Tyler Davis was put in to finish off the pitching game for the Bulldogs. 

This marks Yntema's second-best game in terms of how long he lasted on the mound. His first best was against Arizona State, when he started and played for 5.0 innings. 

2. Firing up the bats early.

Behind the plate, the bottom of the second inning was the best for the Bulldogs this game as they totaled four runs in their highest scoring inning. Kellum Clark singled up the middle to send Ross Highfill home from second base and Colton Ledbetter had a sacrifice fly pushing Clark across the plates. 

To finish things out in the second, Bryce Chance singled up the center driving in Amani Larry and Lane Forsythe. The Bulldogs had a total of four runs in their top-scoring inning. 

3. Ross Highfill had his first career home run.

The freshman from Madison, Mississippi has risen to the occasion to this point in the season as one of the Bulldogs' rising standouts. His finest moment came in the bottom of the third inning against Oklahoma as Highfill secured his first collegiate home run. 

Highfill has posted a batting average of.500 and he has appeared in a total of six games so far in 2023 and should definitely be considered a player top watch as he is one of the stronger freshmen State has.