STARKVILLE — If it’s up to Kendall Graveman, he’ll start Saturday start for the Mississippi State University baseball team.
However, his coaches needed to be convinced, so that’s what Graveman did Tuesday morning.
“I’m going to start,” Graveman said before a bullpen session Tuesday morning. “I think I’m going to start. That shouldn’t be a question.”
The junior right-hander, who has been battling a severe groin injury, threw a normal bullpen session Tuesday morning in front of MSU pitching coach Butch Thompson and showed signs his power sinker is returning to full capacity.
“After what we saw (Tuesday) we have much more confidence in handing him the baseball this weekend,” Thompson said. “We asked him if he felt comfortable with his injury and he responded by throwing more pitches in his bullpen to almost try and convince us he was good to go. We feel like he’ll do anything to take the baseball.”
Thompson expects Graveman to start at some point this weekend. He hopes that start will be in a winners’ bracket game at 6 p.m. against Florida State University or University of Alabama at Birmingham. Those teams will meet following MSU’s matchup at 11 a.m. Friday against Samford University (39-21). Junior right-hander Chris Stratton likely will start for MSU (39-22) in the first game of the four-team double-elimination NCAA tournament regional in Tallahassee, Fla.
If Graveman doesn’t have a setback, he likely will follow Stratton like he has throughout SEC weekend series play. If he’s unable to pitch, MSU likely will turn to junior left-hander Luis Pollorena or go with a combination of freshmen: left-hander Jacob Lindgren or right-hander Brandon Woodruff.
Graveman’s past two outings against the University of Kentucky concerned him and his coaches. However, Graveman said Tuesday his start against Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference tournament in Hoover, Ala., gave him positives to build on.
“I thought the pain was less in the SEC tournament last week than the first start against them in Starkville,” Graveman said. “I think the coaching staff wanted to just not push it and be careful with me, and I appreciate that. I was mad at the time because I wanted to win for my teammates, but (I) understand it now.
A groin injury limited Graveman to 2 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season, in a 5-1 loss to Kentucky on Thursday at the SEC tournament at Regions Park.
“We now must focus on getting that young man healthy for an NCAA Regional because clearly we’re going to need him if we’re going to advance,” MSU coach John Cohen said after Graveman lost Thursday.
Graveman (4-4) allowed five hits and two runs. He struck out one and walked none. The performance came on the heels of a 3 2/3-inning effort in a no-decision against Kentucky in Starkville.
After that game, Cohen first suggested Graveman’s groin injury was a problem. The injury is problematic because the Alexander City, Ala., native needs his legs to drive off the mound to get power sink on his three pitches. Graveman hasn’t been able to do that in each of his past two starts, which helped Kentucky to lift the ball into the outfield.
Graveman leads MSU in starts (14) and is second on the team in innings (86 1/3).
“If I know Kendall, he’ll do anything he can to help this team on the mound this weekend,” Stratton said.
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