TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Slumping players expecting a revelatory thought from the mind of Mississippi State interim baseball coach Gary Henderson are going to leave disappointed. When his team was at its lowest on Friday night, having watched each of its last 12 batters sat down without a threat, he initiated a conversation that he (partially) joked has been had, “since the beginning of time.”
Find elevated fastball and hit them hard. It’s a simple approach, and it’s the one Justin Foscue used to win the game.
MSU’s third baseman did just that, turned on a high fastball, as he sent his two-run home run over the left field wall that won the Friday game over Alabama 14-12 in 10 innings. Alabama left fielder Keith Holcombe won the Saturday game in the 10th inning with a RBI single, giving the Crimson Tide (24-24, 6-17 Southeastern Conference) a 4-3 win. MSU (25-22, 10-13 SEC) will play the rubber match 3 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU.
“I saw fastball elevated and I took a good swing on it. That’s basically all it was,” Foscue said. “These SEC games are one pitch wins the game and tonight, it was my hit.”
Such a moment has been a long time coming for the freshman from Huntsville. Playing time has been consistent throughout the SEC season, but results have taken time to develop as he carried a sub-.240 batting average for the first half of conference play. The series sweep of Arkansas in late April was the beginning of a revival with the game-winning home run being the clutch moment he needed to solidify his position as a player to be trusted.
He wasn’t the only one hitting fastballs.
The only reason the Bulldogs gave Foscue a chance to play the hero in extra innings was a seven-run eighth inning rally, almost all of it coming on hard hit grounders to the left side. After Alabama pulled starting pitcher Sam Finnerty, second baseman Hunter Stovall started it with a RBI single to the left and catcher Marshall Gilbert did the same. Right fielder Elijah MacNamee’s hard-hit left-side grounder resulted in an error, but Foscue got back on the RBI single roll right after MacNamee.
“We’re just ready to hit, that’s what it is. We’re ready to hit the fastball,” Foscue said.
Freshman left fielder Rowdey Jordan also did damage on a fastball, a three-run home run in the second that helped MSU battle back from a five-run deficit after one inning. Bats quieted after that, as Finnerty settled in to keep MSU off the board for five innings.
“It was just different, velocity-wise, it wasn’t as fast as we’re used to,” Jordan said. “That’s why we were all out in front the first few at-bats, but we all made the adjustment.”
Starting pitching recoveries
Konnor Pilkington and Ethan Small entered the weekend with earned run averages among the best in the SEC and walk rates in similar standing. Neither of them brought that version of themselves to Tuscaloosa, yet neither of them put their bullpens into tough spots.
Pilkington needed 36 pitches to get through his first inning and Small needed 31 to get through his Saturday, but both rebounded to give MSU 4 2/3 and 6 innings, respectively, and did enough to avoid the loss.
“What that does is it gives you a chance to get back in the ball game, and we did. Instead of using six guys out of the bullpen, you only have to use three or four,” Henderson said after the Friday game. “Proud of Konnor; what you saw after the first inning, some guys can’t come back from that. That was obviously his worst inning of the year but he came back and stabilized it for us.”
Small’s only damage Saturday was self-inflicted, as four first-inning walks granted Alabama a run. His next five innings saw him hold Alabama to three hits and a run.
Self on the way up
Henderson hoped this would be the weekend sophomore reliever Riley Self could return to action against a SEC opponent for the first time since March 17. Henderson told The Dispatch after the Friday game that his Wednesday bullpen went well and he was available for the weekend; Self spent some of the regulation innings of Saturday’s games as the first base coach and, at print deadline, had not been seen in the bullpen.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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