Mississippi State University baseball coach John Cohen says he doesn’t like to use injuries as an excuse for any form of poor play.
After news coming out of the program Thursday morning, the fourth-year skipper simply may have no other choice.
Cohen confirmed as many as four starters in his 2012 opening day lineup will miss time due to various injuries suffered in the last couple of weeks.
Sophomores C.T. Bradford and Daryl Norris will miss multiple weeks after suffering injuries in the Bulldogs 10-6 victory Wednesday evening completing a two-game sweep of Penn State University.
Bradford suffered a separated shoulder sliding into the second base trying to stretch a base hit into a double. Bradford’s injury is seen as less severe than the same type of injury Brent Brownlee suffered during opening day two years ago that kept him out for the entire year. Cohen said Bradford will be able to return to physical activity after 1-2 weeks of rest but when he’ll be physically able to return to the lineup is obviously in doubt.
“I think it’s possible we could get CT back sooner because the shoulder injury wasn’t as severe as we had thought at first,” Cohen said.
Bradford, a 2011 SEC All-Freshman Team selection and Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, was hitting .309 this season with a team-leading 13 RBIs and a .406 on-base percentage.
Norris sustained a severe injury during a seventh-inning plate appearance where after he fouled off a pitch, his knee cap popped out of its socket. According to the MRI scan, the detachment of the knee cap caused a strain of the ligaments in the third baseman’s knee.
Norris is expected to be restricted from physical activity for 4-6 weeks. Again, when he’ll be physically able to return to the lineup is unknown depending on how he handles the rehabilitation process.
“I was told by our training staff that since this was such a freak injury, there’s not a timetable for his return,” Cohen said. “What we know about Daryl right now is he doesn’t need surgery but the stretched knee ligament is a concern. It wasn’t the best news possible.”
Before Wednesday night’s injury, Norris had made every start at third base for the Bulldogs (12-2) while hitting .375 with 12 RBIs and a perfect fielding percentage in his 14 games.
Senior outfielder Brent Brownlee, who suffered ligament damage to his knee two weeks ago, is scheduled to have surgery to repair the damage today and will be restricted from physical activity for at least 4-6 weeks and could be out of game action for much longer. Brownlee’s surgery was scheduled to correct a grinding of his femur with his knee cap. Depending on how he recovers from the surgery, the rest of Brownlee’s 2012 season could likely be in jeopardy.
“He’ll have to wait the 4-6 weeks before he can even start the rehab process of physical activity and so we’re not sure how long before Brent will return,” Cohen said.
The major problem with Brownlee’s injury is he’s the backup center fielder to Bradford and Cohen suggested sophomore Hunter Renfroe will likely be the starter in that spot with both Brownlee and Bradford out of the lineup.
“I’ve played center on my summer teams and Legion ball teams,” Renfroe said. “I’m pretty comfortable in the outfield but we’ll miss C.T. there’s no doubt about that.”
It would be the fifth different position for the redshirt sophomore in just over two seasons on the active roster.
“We know Hunter is a phenomenal athlete but the issue for him will be picking up the responsibilities of that position,” Cohen said.
Redshirt sophomore Ben Bracewell’s MRI scan from earlier this week was the lone positive from an injury aspect as the results showed no structural damage to the right-handers pitching elbow. The issue with Bracewell is the pain he continues to have in his arm days after his outings on the mound.
“I really think it was an overcompensation deal where I hadn’t been out there in forever and just overthrew everything,” Bracewell said. “I could start doing long touch this weekend but the coaches want me to wait till next week.”
After returning from Tommy John surgery this season, Bracewell has failed to surrender an earned run in 10 1/3 innings on the mound but felt severe discomfort after his March 3 start against the University of Connecticut.
“We’re going to be slow in getting Ben back on the mound,” Cohen said. “The plan and schedule is to get Benny back for the SEC opening series at LSU.”
Bracewell’s injury is not likely to mean junior right-hander Chris Stratton will get his first start on the mound this season. The MSU coaching staff and Stratton himself both are satisfied with having the
Tupelo native be the first option out of the bullpen on Friday night’s going forward this season. While a starter for tonight was not announced, meetings at Dudy Noble Field did take place this week to find a starter for Stratton to pair with while Bracewell gets his arm loose in another throwing program.
“We’re simply going to have to pitch it better than anybody we face,” Cohen said. “We’ll have to pitch and get some guys to defend.”
The rash of injuries that have overtaken the MSU program draw the obvious comparisons to the 2010 squad that lost the centerfielder (Brownlee), third baseman (Jarrod Parks), starting pitcher (Nick Routt) and second baseman (Frankie Rawdow) before conference play began.
“I really think this team is going to battle for the injured guys because we’re so close as a team at and away from the ballpark,” said Bracewell, who was a true freshman on the 2010 club that missed the Southeastern Conference Tournament. “Nobody has really made that comparison but it’s key guys we’re missing now, there’s just no doubt.”
MSU wraps up a 17-game season-opening homestand this weekend with a three-game series against Mercer University.
n Ole Miss hosts Houston: At Oxford, Ole Miss will play its final non-conference weekend series when it plays hosts the University of Houston.
The Rebels and Cougars are scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. Friday, 1:30 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.
Sophomore right-hander Bobby Wahl will draw the start on the mound tonight for the Rebels.
Ole Miss is 10-2 overall, while Houston is 6-6.
n Southern Miss visits Louisiana-Lafayette: At Lafayette, La., The Southern Miss baseball team takes to the road for the second consecutive weekend as they travel to Louisiana-Lafayette for a three-game series at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field.
The start times are 6 p.m. today, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Southern Miss (8-5) and Louisiana-Lafayette have met 34 times in their respective baseball histories with the Ragin’ Cajuns holding a 18-16 advantage in the series. The two schools have been a staple on each other’s schedule as the two teams have played at least twice in every season dating back to 2007. The two teams split a doubleheader last season after the first two days of the series were washed away due to rainy weather in Hattiesburg. The Golden Eagles took the opener 6-5 before losing 8-4 last year.
Current C-USA Hitter of the Week, Blake Brown continues to hit well for the Golden Eagles. Despite losing 5-3 at home to South Alabama Tuesday night, Brown was one of four Southern Miss players to get a couple of hits and the junior transfer has raised his average to .317 this season.
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