STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State University baseball team had a lot of time to contemplate its starting pitcher for game three Sunday of its weekend series against the University of South Carolina.
It still hasn’t come up with an option.
After a mechanical malfunction with the chartered flight, MSU (21-12, 5-7 Southeastern Conference) made a nine-hour bus ride Thursday to Columbia, S.C., to face the two-time defending national champion University of South Carolina (24-10, 5-7 SEC) at Carolina Stadium.
“It will be still probably be something we make as TBD,” MSU coach John Cohen joked Thursday about his third starter for the weekend series. “We know our strategy will change and (after) our long bus ride there we’ll talk about it with (MSU pitching coach) Butch (Thompson). It will change back and forth throughout the weekend.”
At 6 tonight, two of the SEC’s top pitchers — MSU junior right-hander Chris Stratton (7-0, 2.54) and South Carolina senior left-hander Michael Roth (3-0, 1.98) — will face off in the series opener. Game two will be at 3 p.m. Saturday. The finale will be at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
Stratton leads the SEC with seven wins and is second with 67 strikeouts.
“We are a little bit young in the lineup, and thank goodness we’re experienced on the mound,” Cohen said.
The Bulldogs have prevailed in three of their past four games, including a walk-off 8-7 win against Vanderbilt University on Sunday that clinched their first SEC weekend series.
MSU backed that win with a 2-0 walk-off win against the University of South Alabama in 12 innings Tuesday. It was the first extra-inning triumph for the Bulldogs in five games this season. The scoreless pitching duel ended on a towering home run by freshman first baseman Wes Rea.
But the win came with a price tag. Infielder/outfielder Demarcus Henderson, who was hit by a pitch to open the winning inning, sustained a bone fracture in his hand and will be sidelined at least two weeks.
“One step forward and two steps back for us every day with our injuries,” Cohen said. “After a ballgame, our kids are really sore and tired. You wonder if you can get the best out of them.”
MSU opens the weekend leading the SEC with 40 double plays. Three came Tuesday. MSU pitchers are third in the SEC in strikeouts (304), while Bulldog hitters have been struck by a pitch 54 times, which is also third.
South Carolina is coming off a 5-4 loss to Division II Francis-Marion University on Wednesday. The Gamecocks committed two base-running gaffes in the eighth inning that ruined a bigger scoring threat.
“We’re a little disappointed,” said South Carolina infielder Christian Walker, who had three of USC’s seven hits and drove in two runs. “We didn’t come in here expecting them to just roll over.”
A busy slate awaits MSU upon its return from South Carolina. MSU will be the designated home team Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl for the sixth annual Governor’s Cup game against the University of Mississippi. MSU then will return to campus to prepare for a nationally televised Thursday night game against the University of Tennessee. That game will open a three-game, Super Bulldog Weekend series.
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