STARKVILLE — Gary Henderson likes to withhold judgement until the 75 at-bat mark. His extensive coaching experience — 11 seasons in the Southeastern Conference as an assistant coach and eight as a head coach before taking over as Mississippi State’s interim baseball coach in February — tells him misleading conclusions come from sample sizes smaller than that.
Now that Tanner Allen is essentially there, excitement over the freshman designated hitter is justified.
Allen’s first 73 at-bats of 2018 have seen him take on a crucial role in MSU’s lineup as the 3-hole hitter, a role he earned by hitting .315 with a team-high .493 slugging percentage. Allen will officially hit the 75 at-bat threshold in MSU’s upcoming midweek home games — Tuesday against Alcorn State and Wednesday against Texas Southern, both at 6:30 p.m. — with no signs of slowing down after keeping this pace in his Southeastern Conference debut over the weekend against Vanderbilt.
“He’s still in the 3-hole at a SEC school, and that’s not an easy thing to accomplish,” Henderson said. “He’s not the only one doing it, but he’s doing it. He’ll end up being a tremendous player for us.”
SEC pitching did not slow Allen down as he tallied thee hits and drove in two of MSU’s four runs on the weekend. He also hit his first home run, the team’s only four-bagger of the weekend, and drew a walk in each game of the series to bump his batting average up three points and his on-base percentage up to .400.
What makes it all most impressive is these are not just Allen’s first at-bats of a season; these are the first at-bats of a college career.
“I feel good at the plate right now. I feel like I’m hitting the ball real good, I’m taking good swings and letting everything else take care of itself,” Allen told The Dispatch.
Still, Allen admits he is like any freshman hitter in college baseball. He too has had his moments where he realizes, “this is definitely not high school pitching.” One such moment came on opening day, when Southern Mississippi’s All-American Nick Sandlin tamed MSU and Allen alike; Allen went 0-4.
Since then, most things have been smooth. Allen had his batting average above .300 before the end of February and has only let it dip below once — to .299 for one day, after going 0-3 against Vanderbilt on Friday. He hit three times over his next six at-bats to currently stand at .315. Allen’s way of getting there is simple.
“I hit a lot,” Allen said, joking he has a hole in his right hand from hitting so much. “To be a good hitter, you have to hit. Me and Hunter Stovall are here at the Palmeiro all the time, 9 o’clock at night, just hitting. If you want to be great at something, you have to do it.
“I’m trying my best to be consistent, see pitches and be a smart hitter, stuff like that. Having a good plan going to the plate: these coaches, they give us an outstanding plan and all of that feeds into having good at-bats.”
The adjustment to college pitching isn’t all Allen is working through: he’s produced at this level as a designated hitter, which is not a natural role for him. Allen was mentioned as a potential utility piece in the preseason and was on his way to that in the opening weeks, having started at first base twice, third five times and left field once. Allen and assistant coach Jake Gautreau once had a conversation about getting Allen back into the field once the team started performing well, but that upswing came with Allen in the DH spot and he didn’t want to change anything.
Plus, Allen is finding things about designated hitter that he likes.
“I feel like I can, in between at-bats, really analyze what happened, how the pitcher pitched me,” Allen said. “I’m just here doing what I asked and giving everything I got one at-bat at a time.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.