STARKVILLE – Mississippi State catcher Josh Lovelady has no trouble admitting that he’s nervous in advance of this weekend’s Southeastern Conference series at Kentucky.
But his apprehension has nothing to do with baseball.
“I’ve never flown on a plane so I’m pretty nervous,” said Lovelady. “We look forward to a good weekend and hopefully we come back with some wins. I’m not sure about the plane, though.”
The flight to Lexington would be the first time Lovelady has shown any trepidation this season. A junior college transfer from Shelton State Community College, Lovelady arrived in the fall expecting to compete for playing time as the backup to starting catcher Gavin Collins. But with Collins shelved for much of the year due to a lingering wrist injury, the job has fallen to Lovelady, who has filled in admirably for MSU’s All-SEC backstop.
Having started 16 of MSU’s 23 games so far, Lovelady is hitting .255 on the season and ranks third on the team with 11 RBIs. His impact has been greater defensively, as he is fielding at a .994 clip behind the plate and has thrown out 12 of 13 prospective base stealers this season. In short, Lovelady has been a solid answer after Collins’ injury raised questions early in the season.
“I couldn’t be more excited about what Josh Lovelady has been able to do,” said MSU coach John Cohen. “Our starting catcher has been banged up and he responded. When you have a good ball club and somebody gets hurt, somebody has to step up, and he has.”
Cohen’s players agreed.
“Josh has been phenomenal,” said MSU senior shortstop Seth Heck. “When it was his turn to step up and play, he did and we haven’t missed a beat back there.”
Lovelady’s emergence as a viable option at catcher has been key for a Bulldogs’ team that heads to Lexington desperately needing good things to happen. MSU enters at 17-6 overall and 1-2 in SEC play, having lost two of three games to Alabama after leading all three after six innings.
In Kentucky, MSU will face a team reeling from being swept by South Carolina in the opening weekend of conference play.
Still, Cohen, who came to Starkville after serving as Kentucky’s head coach, knows the Wildcats will be ready.
“We had five really neat years in Lexington,” said Cohen. “I have the ultimate respect for their coaching staff. Gary Henderson has done a great job. They lost some folks from last year. They’ll be very competitive, they’ll have some great arms and they’ll score some runs.”
Part of MSU’s attempts to stop the Wildcats from scoring those runs will be Lovelady, the catcher who came to MSU known for his defense. With Collins having earned just one start before sitting out the Alabama series due to the injury, Lovelady is expected to continue getting plenty of opportunities to prove himself.
According to the Prattville, Alabama native, Collins has been one of the driving forces behind Lovelady’s consistency.
“When I came, Gavin pretty much took me in,” said Lovelady. “He pretty much took me under his wing, showed me the ropes. Even now, during games, he will come up and tell me whatever I need to do.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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