STARKVILLE — In John Cohen’s mind, the excuses stop this weekend.
He knows a lot of the everyday players in the Mississippi State University baseball lineup are battling injuries. He understands this home series against the University of Tennessee starts with a quick turnaround tonight following a disappointing 6-3 loss to the University of Mississippi in Pearl. He simply doesn’t care anymore and would like his players to stop buying into the elements that allow them off the hook to not perform.
“We’re a beaten up club,” he said. “You have real mental toughness, and you can overcome that. Right now we’re not overcoming it. That’s not anything against our kids. It’s just when you’re punched out 16 times in a ballgame, you’re not overcoming anything.”
Against its hated instate rival, MSU (21-16, 5-10 in Southeastern Conference) didn’t show a lot of discipline by swinging at a lot of pitches out of the strike zone when facing an early deficit.
“When you strike out 16 times, you’re not going to win any ballgames,” Cohen said. “We got all the excuses in the world: kids are tired, bus trip, blah, blah, blah and there is no excuse. You got to focus and get it done. Our kids weren’t locked in. When the lights came on here, we were not prepared to play.”
One of major injury issues still lingering over the Bulldogs clubhouse is the right kneecap of sophomore third baseman Daryl Norris.
Norris may be swapped with Trey Porter defensively at third base so Norris is just responsible for the designated hitter role as the surging Volunteers come to Starkville tonight.
“I went to Daryl Norris (Tuesday) night, he got a hit, runs to first base, and I almost ran out there to first base to say, ‘Hey, that’s the worst I’ve seen you run since this happened to you.’ Cohen said, ‘Coach, it’s killing me. I can’t function.'”
Mississippi State senior outfielder Brent Brownlee has likely found himself in the defensive replacement role after battling a knee injury sustained in early March that involves ligament damage in the knee the Bulldogs veteran was trying to play with in his final season of college baseball.
“I don’t know if (Brent) Brownlee is gonna be able to start a game the rest of the year,” Cohen said.
MSU sophomore shortstop Adam Frazier, who is second on the team with a .346 average, is battling knee soreness but will likely not be out of the lineup this weekend. The only thing to watch defensively is there were two balls hit by Ole Miss Tuesday night straight up the middle that Frazier couldn’t get to and then he made his ninth error of the 2012 season on another ground ball that he actually overran.
“In order to make this run we’ve got to get healthy because what people need to realize is what our kids are doing is based on guts alone right now,” Cohen said.
Tennessee (22-15, 7-8) comes into Dudy Noble Field with a new coach that injected life into what was considered a major rebuilding project in the preseason. Former California State University at Fullerton coach Dave Serrano has provided instant credibility to the Volunteers program through the bullpen.
The Tennessee bullpen has an earned run average of 1.59 over its last 14 games including 11-1/3 shutout innings in its sweep over Alabama. During the run, eight pitchers have combined to strike out 60 batters and held opposing hitters to a .225 average.
In 15 appearances out of the bullpen, junior RHP Nick Blount has a 1.00 ERA over 18.0 innings. During that same time, he has struck out 15 batters and walked just three. MSU fans should get nervous when he trots out of the bullpen as he is 10- for-10 in save opportunities, including a remarkable seven straight games from March 27-April 6.
“I have high expectations and we can’t win enough, so I get frustrated sometimes, but when I look at all the one-run games and the close games we have been in, Nick Blount has saved the last 10 wins we have had,” said Serrano. “That means every game has been a close game, which means we are doing something right when the game is on the line and I am proud of our guys for that.”
Today’s game, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU, has been designated as “white-out” night at Dudy Noble Field, where fans are encouraged to wear white garb for greatest visibility during the nationally-televised event. The evening will begin with new MSU head basketball coach Rick Ray throwing out a ceremonial first pitch and wrap up with a postgame fireworks display staged near Chadwick Lake.
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