STARKVILLE — Andy Cannizaro has a different use for the No. 9 spot in his lineup.
Last season, Cole Gordon led the LSU baseball team with a .329 batting average and a .427 on-base percentage. Gordon also was the team’s second-best base stealer. Production like that normally is found at the top of the lineup.
But MSU’s first-year head coach like to have someone at the bottom of the order who can keep innings alive and flip the lineup, which is why he feels sophomore second baseman Hunter Stovall is perfect for the job.
Stovall showed last weekend he just might be the right fit. In four starts, Stovall was 8-for-15 (team-high .533 batting average) with two doubles and three RBIs. He also drew two walks and has an on-base percentage of .588 that is best among hitters with 10 or more at-bats.
Cannizaro hopes Stovall will be able to maintain that pace at 4 p.m. today (SEC Network+) when MSU (3-1) plays host to Morehead State.
“I think he’s a perfect nine-hole guy,” Cannizaro said. “He can turn the order over, he can steal a base, he can do a lot of things like that. He’s still really young in college baseball. He got to play a little bit last year, but (he) really is getting his first taste of every-day action. I want to get him comfortable in the nine hole. I think he can be one of the most dynamite nine-hole guys in the country.”
Stovall said he hasn’t hit ninth in the order since his freshman year in high school, but he added he is on board with the decision. He said he has been working with Cannizaro on his approach.
“(We have been working on) trying not to lift the ball, trying to get more ground balls and line drives,” Stovall said. “It’s just what I have to be. I have to use my speed.”
Taking a simpler approach at the plate has been Stovall’s focus for weeks. It also is one Cannizaro asked other Bulldogs to take last weekend. The results were immediate: MSU scored 10 runs on 17 hits in its first two games and followed with 18 runs on 20 hits in two games Sunday.
“We just talked about not trying to do it all by yourself,” Cannizaro said. “It’s important to just bring the next guy up. Don’t look at the scoreboard and don’t play the scoreboard.
“Go win your at-bat. That’s all I asked them to do. Then all of a sudden we started stringing four, five, six, seven, eight quality at-bats together.”
In a 5-2 loss to Texas Tech on Friday, Stovall led off the bottom of the third inning with a single. Even though he was erased on a fielder’s choice, MSU tied the game on a RBI double. On Saturday against Western Illinois, Stovall walked to move Tanner Poole into scoring position. Jake Mangum then drove Poole in. Later in the game, Stovall drove Poole in with a single.
Against Texas Tech on Sunday, Stovall scored the go-ahead run from third base on a shallow fly ball to right field.
Cannizaro said he hasn’t been surprised to see Stovall provide a spark.
“He’s kind of that spark plug, fire-igniter type of guy,” he said. “He plays really fast, he defends really well at second base. Hitting down in the nine hole, he can bunt, handle the bat. He’s really transforming his swing daily into a line-drive kind of approach and really trying to keep the ball out of the air.”
On top of his offensive exploits, Stovall played every out at second base and had 11 assists and three putouts and didn’t commit an error.
n No. 22 Ole Miss will play host to Arkansas State: At Oxford, the No. 22 Ole Miss baseball team (3-0) will play host to Arkansas State (4-0) at 4 p.m. today at Swayze Field. The game will be available on SEC Network+.
Ole Miss is 3-0 for the fifth time in the past seventh seasons, and 10th under coach Mike Bianco. It moved into the Baseball America poll after sweeping then-No. 6 East Carolina last weekend in Oxford. It was Ole Miss’ first three-game sweep of a top-10 team since April 24-25, 2010 (No. 5 LSU).
Freshman right-hander Will Ethridge is scheduled to start for Ole Miss.
n In related news, sophomore center fielder Ryan Olenek was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday afternoon. Olenek earned a weekly award for the first time in his career after hitting .462 against the Pirates.
n Southern Mississippi’s game against Alabama pushed back to Wednesday: At Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the Southern Mississippi baseball team’s game against Alabama scheduled for today in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has been pushed back to 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
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