STARKVILLE — In arguably the most remembered at-bat of the 2011 season, the Mississippi State coaches considered having their cleanup hitter bunt.
Nick Vickerson responded by hitting a game-winning home run against the University of Florida to force a deciding game in the NCAA Super Regional in Gainesville, Fla.
This season, MSU coach John Cohen may not have to debate the issue with the amount of power he is expected to have in the middle of his lineup.
The power of the old days in the heart of MSU’s order should be back this season. Bulldog fans will get their final chance to see some of those sluggers today in Game 7 of the MSU Fall World Series at Dudy Noble Field. Cohen hopes the confidence of several power hitters will translate into the spring.
Last season was one of four since 1992 MSU failed to have a hitter hit 10 or more home runs in a season. MSU was 10th in home runs with 30, 39 behind conference leader Florida.
“I feel like our lineup will be balanced from top to bottom, and it’ll be interesting how they come together being so young in the best league in America,” Cohen said. “That’s the great thing about practices right now, our kids are really competing hard because really nothing has been answered.”
Last season, MSU had a middle of the order of seniors Jarrod Parks, Nick Vickerson, and Jaron Shepherd. While all of those drafted players contributed to the school’s first NCAA Regional appearance since 2007, they only had 16 home runs in 62 games.
Cohen will continue to rely on pitching and defense, but he feels the Bulldogs will have more thump in their lineup in 2012.
“Pitching and defense is still what I believe is going to win games in the SEC, but we’re going to have the option to load up our lineup with more power,” Cohen said. “What I also think has helped is our strength program giving guys more power at the plate and stamina in all areas.”
With seven seniors last year in a lineup that was six outs away from advancing to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., MSU will count on young, every-day players in 2012 who don’t have a lot of experience in the Southeastern Conference.
“We’re ready, though, for everything that’s in front of us,” sophomore catcher/outfielder Hunter Renfroe said.
MSU fans hope to see Renfroe’s power in games this season. Last season, tales of Renfroe’s power reached mythical status, as Cohen and former teammates were more than happy to share the stories of how Renfroe’s mammoth batting practice shots went off the indoor practice facilities at the University of Tennessee and Georgia Tech more than 400 feet away.
“Hunter would hit some shots last year that you’d just stare at and go, ‘Wow, that’s crazy’, and so wherever he plays, he’ll be great,” redshirt freshman first baseman Wes Rea said.
Renfroe, who turned down a six-figure signing bonus from the Boston Red Sox two years ago to honor his commitment to MSU, was named the top professional prospect on his collegiate summer league baseball team, the Bethesda (Md.) Big Train, by Perfect Game USA. Renfroe had a .305 batting average and hit a club-record and league-leading eight home runs to help power Bethesda to a 36-9 record and its third consecutive Cal Ripken Collegiate League championship.
“I worked a lot this year at Bethesda on hitting that breaking ball when guys want to pitch me low and outside,” Renfroe said. “What I’ve got to do is put that ball the opposite way and not be such a straight pull hitter.”
Rea, a redshirt freshman, was one of Renfroe’s summer league teammates, and he is his roommate this season. The 296-pound first baseman could be the largest human being who has appeared in a MSU lineup.
“Wes is a big dude,” Renfroe said. “We go hunting all the time, and I tell him all the time he’d be so scary in the league if he’d just get healthy.”
Rea had scholarship offers out of high school from nearly every SEC football program, including MSU, showed consistency at the plate in the fall before he suffered a hairline fracture in his right foot.
Rea qualified for a medical redshirt last season after having a back injury sideline him for the 2011 campaign.
Renfroe and the MSU players have joked with Rea, a Gulfport native, about the severity of his injury.
“I tell them the doctor is saying it’s broken so I won’t play on it,” Rea said with a smile. “I don’t even need the crutches or this boot on my foot, but nobody wants me to take any chances.”
MSU also could have more power in its lineup not that sophomore Daryl Norris is playing third base. This fall, Norris is playing the position for the first time since his sophomore season at Fairhope (Ala.) High School. The position change from first base could allow the right-handed hitter to be in the lineup every day. Last season, he had 20 RBIs in 94 at-bats.
Norris, who wanted at least $500,000 to sign with the Texas Rangers after they drafted in the 46th round of the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft, struggled to hit breaking pitches in the later months. He hit a solo home run deep over the left-field wall Saturday afternoon in Game 6 of the MSU Fall World Series.
“The competition at certain positions is so good, and we even have a walk-on transfer Trey Porter from Gulf Coast Community College that could be the starting first baseman on Opening Day,” Norris said. “What I’m still making sure I don’t do anymore is strike out. I always made contact without thinking about it before I came here, but now I have to concentrate on everything in the box.”
Throughout the fall, MSU has experimented with a temporary fence in
the outfield in left-center, center, and right-center. The move could be made for this season to make the ballpark more friendly to hitters and to compensate for a smaller trampoline effect off the new bats.
“We’ll see what happens,” Renfroe said. “I don’t think it will matter because we’ll have enough to reach the fences they’ve got now.”
MSU will open its 2012 campaign with a three-game series against Washington State at Dudy Noble Field. It won’t play a game outside Starkville until March 13-14 at Southeastern Louisiana.
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