STARKVILLE — Jacob Billingsley is more than a starting pitcher for Mississippi State, he’s the definition of an innings eater.
MSU has been in dire need of both in his absence; it took him no time to refill the role he vacated.
Billingsley has been MSU’s midweek starter since the beginning of the season, but injured his ankle in late March and missed three starts. In his return Tuesday night, he pitched five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks as MSU (23-12) beat Mississippi Valley State (4-22) 5-0 at Dudy Noble Field.
“It’s gigantic, because he’s been outstanding for us all year,” MSU coach Andy Cannizaro said. “Any time you can add that to your pitching staff is certainly a good feeling.”
In Billingsley’s absence, MSU has turned to Denver McQuary, Graham Ashcraft and Cole Gordon to start in his place, who combined for no wins and one loss in those four starts and more times than not were asked to pitch again the ensuing weekend in a shorter stint, something Billingsley never did earlier in the season.
Cannizaro did not rule out the idea of using Billingsley in the weekend and taking him out of his usual Tuesdays-only routine, but did so without hesitation: as he sees it, Billingsley’s return provides much-needed depth, not a set-in-stone Tuesday night starter.
“Regardless of what roles guys are in, if he can give us one or two innings,” Cannizaro said, “then we’ll look to get him back out there Saturday or Sunday.”
What Billingsley’s return meant Tuesday night was six strikeouts and just five balls leaving the infield under his watch. Cannizaro noted Billingsley had his best velocity of the season as his fastball got up to 93 mph; Billingsley credited his slider.
He made sure he came in with as little rust as possible.
“The slider hadn’t been its best in the past few outings and I really thought I got it back the past couple of weeks. That was big for me tonight,” Billingsley said. “I’ve thrown three bullpens leading up to today, so I kind of knocked it all off there and I felt pretty good, honestly.”
Billingsley was pitching in front of a new-look defense with one notable change: a switch in the double play combo. Ryan Gridley has only started at shortstop this season and Hunter Stovall has been the everyday second baseman when healthy; on Tuesday, they switched, preparing themselves to go a day without Gridley in the future.
During MSU’s next home series, hosting Alabama beginning April 20, Gridley will have to miss one game to attend his sister’s wedding. The plan is to move Stovall to shortstop for that game, so Cannizaro set the plan in motion with both of them to get Stovall in-game reps at shortstop against MVSU.
“On a play up the middle, I thought he did a really great job of coming across the field, sucking it up and getting it over the first base,” Gridley said of Stovall. “I thought he looked great. The whole game, I was just encouraging him.”
Also different about the lineup was the absence of Jake Mangum, who was out after injuring his wrist in the Sunday game against Kentucky. Cannizaro said after Tuesday’s game that he was optimistic Mangum would be ready to play for the series opener at South Carolina on Friday.
In Mangum’s absence, first baseman Brent Rooker took over leadoff duties and had two hits.
MSU jumped on the board early with three runs in the second, thanks to center fielder Tanner Poole’s RBI double and catcher Dustin Skelton’s two-RBI single. Gridley was pleased to see the sense of urgency at the plate early, given MVSU entered the game with one of the worst Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) ratings in the nation.
“These games are traps sometimes,” Gridley said. “You see it on the schedule and you have to respect that opponent. You don’t want to take a loss on a Tuesday night and have it affect you at the end of the year, so I thought we did a really good job of that.”
MSU did have a scare in the eighth, when MVSU, down by three, loaded the bases with two outs. Cannizaro was hoping to get through the game without using closer Spencer Price, but with the tying run on first, he felt the need to call on him and he delivered, recording that out and three more in the ninth to earn his 11th save of the season, by far the Southeastern Conference leader in that category.
After Price got MSU out of the bases-loaded jam, MSU gave him two insurance runs: right fielder Elijah MacNamee brought left fielder Cody Brown home on a sacrifice fly and third baseman Luke Alexander scored Poole on a single.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
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