HOOVER, Ala. — Mississippi State University freshman outfielder Demarcus Henderson just wants his teammates to trust him.
Henderson is pushing for that trust by making diving catches like the lay-out play he made in the seventh inning Wednesday in a 3-2 upset of No. 2 LSU.
Henderson, who has battled back after injuring his left hand, made a diving catch on a line drive by speedster Jacoby Jones. The catch not only was highlight-worthy, but it also helped preserve MSU’s second victory in as many days in the 2012 Southeastern Conference tournament at Regions Park.
“I knew I was either going to trap it or (that it was) just (going to) barely drop in front of me,” Henderson said. “The way I figured it, I had to do everything to go get this ball because my pitcher has been just dealing today. In that situation you have to make defensive plays behind him.”
The attempt of the diving play did nothing but scare MSU coach John Cohen.
“In some respects, I was hoping he’d just back up and let that thing bounce,” Cohen said. “He came in and made a very athletic play. That was the play of the game.”
Henderson, who still wears padding to protect his left hand, is 5-for-12 with four RBIs in his past three games. He continued his tear with an RBI single to right center that scored catcher Mitch Slauter for the eventual game-winning run.
“We see what (MSU sophomore shortstop Adam) Frazier does every day, and he’s the cockiest guy on the team, but not in a bad way,” Henderson said. “You’re just not going to tell him he can’t do something. We want to watch that and learn how to get better every day. We have to help him out a little bit.”
Graveman likely to start today vs. Kentucky
Cohen said the plan is to use junior right-hander Kendall Graveman against Kentucky today.
Graveman (4-3, 2.79 ERA) only worked 3 2/3 innings against the Wildcats last weekend and gave up two runs on five hits in a no-decision in a 4-3 victory Friday. Cohen admitted Wednesday that the Bulldogs No. 2 starting pitcher had been suffering from a slight groin injury that restricted his ability to go deep into his last start.
“Kendall is going to go tomorrow unless we have an issue with his groin, and it was really bothering him against Kentucky,” Cohen said. “When he really gets going with his bullpen tomorrow then we’ll know how he’s feeling.”
Perno on Georgia’s NCAA chances: ‘We’ve made it hard’
After a disappointing 3-2 loss to Auburn University in an elimination game Wednesday, University of Georgia coach David Perno couldn’t help but be realistic about his team’s NCAA tournament at-large chances.
“I would love for them to get a shot at it, but we have made it hard,” Perno said.
Georgia is No. 47 in the latest RPI numbers by WarrenNolan.com. It lost to Vanderbilt and Auburn and was eliminated from the SEC tournament.
“I’m not in that business, so I wouldn’t know what to say,” Perno said. “We’ve got quality wins and a win over everybody we played in league play. It’s out of our hands, and we could’ve done a much better job of controlling it that’s for sure.”
When Georgia (31-26) broke through against Auburn for two runs in the eighth inning, it snapped an 0-for-29 stretch by the Bulldogs with runners in scoring position, including 0-for-16 in the
SEC tournament.
“We wanted to win this game, and that was our only singular focus,” Perno said. “You play all season to get here, so you’d like to stay around a little longer.”
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