HOOVER, Ala. — University of Kentucky starting pitcher Jerad Grundy was on a mission Thursday afternoon.
The left-hander didn’t want one of his 104 pitches to cost his team, especially coming off a loss to Mississippi State University less than a week ago.
Despite allowing a run on three hits in the first inning, Grundy accomplished his goal. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound junior surrendered just one more hit in the next five innings and struck out a career-high nine to lead No. 11 Kentucky to a 5-1 victory against No. 24 MSU on day three of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Regions Park.
“First inning, I was struggling to find my fastball,” Grundy said. “Second inning on, I found real control over my secondary stuff, my slider and my changeup. I kept it down for the most part, and that is why I was able to get the strikeouts. It is a mental approach. I have had the same first inning a couple of times throughout the season in my starts. It is something I should address moving forward into the regionals.”
Grundy (5-3) gave up a three-run home run to Daryl Norris on Friday in MSU’s 4-3 victory in game two of the three-game set in Starkville. On Thursday, he did a better job of avoiding a disastrous mistake.
“I thought there were a few keys,” Kentucky coach Gary Henderson said. “One was Jerad finding his rhythm in the second inning. He faltered a little bit in the first. Just in terms of delivery rhythm and getting ahead, I think we had four 2-0 counts in the first inning, so for him to be able to find a rhythm and create a bit of momentum for us created a little bit more excitement in the dugout.”
Grundy recovered from the first inning and kept the Bulldogs off balance the rest of the day. The left-hander was a 46th-round draft pick of the Texas Rangers in 2009 and a 42nd-round draft pick by the Miami Marlins in 2011.
“He gave up one three-run homer and his pitch count was high, so it was not efficient but he didn’t pitch poorly (in Starkville),” Henderson said. “When you play in a yard this big, it’s pretty forgiving, and that lets you get into your secondary stuff.”
MSU coach John Cohen compared his team’s attack against Grundy to his daughter going to her first crawfish boil. The Bulldogs and daughter, who was 4 years old at the time, ignored instructions they received before the event.
“My daughter (asked) me if she could have a crawfish,” Cohen said. “I said, ‘Sure honey, you can have a crawfish, but whatever you do don’t touch your eyes after you touch this crawfish’, and about 30 minutes later she has red, bloodshot eyes. I asked her, ‘You touched your eyes didn’t you?’ and she responded, ‘Yes daddy, I sure did.’ ”
MSU watched video of Grundy and discussed a game plan against him for more than an hour before the game. The Bulldogs knew Grundy would try to deceive them in a way unlike many of the aces in the SEC.
“We spent an hour this morning watching film and almost situation by situation our kids knew what was going to happen before it (happened),” Cohen said. “It’s going to be soft down in the zone and if you don’t chase, we won’t strike out. Eleven punchouts later, our guys have bloodshot eyes just like my daughter because that’s what young guys do in this league when they haven’t experienced things like this. That’s happened to us a lot this year.”
The 6-7-8-9 spots in MSU’s batting order went 0-for-12 with six strikeouts. That part of the order included freshmen Demarcus Henderson and Wes Rea, walk-on junior Sam Frost, and sophomore Daryl Norris.
“The bottom line is our pitching is going to come through because we have some of the best pitchers in the NCAA, but our hitting has to come around,” MSU center fielder Hunter Renfroe said. “We have to move runners, and that’s it.”
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