ATLANTA — The Mississippi State baseball team earned a spot in the 2011 NCAA regionals by playing small ball.
Yet there”s temptation at Russ Chandler Stadium to aim for the fences.
As MSU prepares to open play at 2 p.m. today against Southern Mississippi, left-handed hitters Jaron Shepherd, CT Bradford, and Ryan Collins know it is 353 to gap in right-center field — about 21 feet shorter than the alley at Dudy Noble Field.
Still, now isn”t the time to divert from the blueprint that helped the Bulldogs end a three-year postseason drought, coach John Cohen said.
“If we”re in striking distance, we”re gonna do everything we can to hit and run, run and hit, bunt, try and steal bases — all the things we”ve been built to do even though this ballpark plays a little bit smaller to the right side,” said Cohen, whose team finished 10th in the Southeastern Conference with 28 home runs.
“When you”re facing guys that have pretty good stuff like (USM starting pitcher Todd) McInnis, you try to put the barrel in the right spot. If you try and generate the power, it”s a lot less likely you”re gonna have the barrel in the right spot.”
Hitters from both teams discovered the power alley at Georgia Tech”s field wasn”t the only spot where balls carry farther than expected. They also nailed deep home runs down both lines Thursday at batting practice.
“Right off the bat, we noticed it travels a whole lot better than our field,” MSU third baseman Jarrod Parks said. “I believe Hunter Renfroe was one of the first guys up and hit one off that indoor facility in left field. It travels a whole lot better. I heard it travels a little better to right than left.”
For Parks, in a 7-for-33 hitting slump in the past nine games, there”s even greater temptation should the Bulldogs find themselves trailing late. Parks admitted he compensated by aiming for one big swing once he realized his pitch recognition was off and pitchers challenged him more.
Cohen”s advice to Parks and the rest of his hitters is to take effortless swings and to make the opposing pitcher work for outs. In essence, Cohen wants his players to do “a whole lot of average things well instead of trying to force spectacular things.” It”s important advice since he noticed players trying too hard to make big plays in losses against LSU at the end of the regular season and last week against the University of Florida and Arkansas in the SEC tournament.
When Parks is compiling hits and walks, he makes the top half of MSU”s lineup tough to get out, thanks in part to the hot streak of second baseman Nick Vickerson, who bats fourth or fifth in the lineup. Since May, Vickerson has raised his batting average 50 points.
MSU had its best offensive performances of the season when Parks, Vickerson, and Jaron Shepherd play well. The trio combined to go 39-for-103 late this season, allowing the Bulldogs to win eight of 10 games. Vickerson led the group by going 16-for-36. Shepherd has hit safely in 14 of his past 17 games.
However, the same group is 13-for-50 in MSU”s past five games, in which the Bulldogs have lost four.
Though Shepherd went 1-for-8 and had some big misses at Hoover, Ala., Cohen is confident the senior can hold down his spot in the lineup.
“He”s really kind of changed his stroke and worked hard on it,” Cohen said. “I put a lot of stock in the fact that a senior has a lot more experience. He”s got some big, big hits for us the last few weeks. He”s been very valuable in that fourth and fifth spot, depending on if it”s right or left-handed on the mound.”
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