STARKVILLE — Starting pitching problems be damned.
After ringing up nine batters in a five-inning outing against Southern Mississippi last week, Mississippi State midweek ace Houston Harding dialed up another devastating night on the mound Wednesday as the Bulldogs (10-3) downed Louisiana (9-5) 4-0.
“We go out and we plan and prepare every week for that opportunity,” Harding explained. “And when that opportunity arises, I don’t like to miss.”
Following MSU’s Saturday loss to Kent State, head coach Chris Lemonis revealed his concern over No. 2 starter Eric Cerantola’s inability to locate. Incumbent Friday starter Christian MacLeod’s 1.2-inning outing against the Golden Flashes the day before didn’t offer any further confidence.
But for as much as MSU’s top dogs have struggled, Harding has been as efficient a customer as the Bulldogs have had off the bump. Wednesday he found the zone on 47 of his 67 pitches. Harding’s eight strikeouts ran his two-game total to 17 over 10 innings pitched.
Mixing his offspeed stuff with a high-80s to low-90s fastball, he’s now tossed at least five innings in two of his three starts this spring. Harding also currently sits as the team’s innings pitched leader at 15.1, just a smidge ahead of Sunday starter Jackson Fristoe.
“He’s been giving us some really competitive starts lately,” Lemonis said. “It’s fun to play behind him when he pitches.”
Behind Harding, junior Preston Johnson notched his second dynamic relief effort of the year. After striking out all six batters he faced in last week’s win over Southern Miss, Johnson fooled a Ragin’ Cajuns lineup that boasted five players batting .333 or better heading into the night. Running his fastball into the mid-90s, Johnson surrendered just one hit in two innings pitched while striking out four.
Second-year freshman Landon Sims also added another absurd chapter to his increasingly impressive season. Ringing up all three batters he faced in the eighth inning, Sims has now struck out 25 of the 37 batters he’s faced — good for an average of roughly two strikeouts per inning.
Just two weeks away from the start of Southeastern Conference play, the MSU weekend rotation remains a work in progress. Both MacLeod and Cerantola have been average at best, combining for a 7.30 ERA in 14 innings pitched, while neither has pitched more than four innings this season.
Fristoe was electric in his perfect six innings Sunday against Kent State and has improved with each start, but it remains to be seen how much he can be counted on through a full SEC slate.
Enter Wednesday’s trio.
Slated for a midweek role a season ago that’s bled into this spring, Harding allowed just two runs in 5.2 innings in a win over then-No. 4 Texas Tech last year in Biloxi. He was similarly effective in his surprise start against then-No. 10 TCU in the season-opening State Farm College Baseball Showdown.
Faced with a midweek slate that includes perennial NCAA tournament teams Southern, Samford, Southern Miss and Louisiana, Lemonis has been reticent to move Harding out of his current slot, but he didn’t rule it out following the win over the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Johnson, by contrast, missed the first week of the season due to undisclosed reasons, but has looked the part of a reliable reliever come the SEC portion of MSU’s schedule having struck out 10 of the 15 batters he’s faced in four innings of work.
And then there’s Sims. Averaging nearly two strikeouts per inning this year, his ERA dipped to 0.84 after his two innings of relief Wednesday. Sims has also now rung up an absurd 27 of the 42 hitters who’ve stepped into the box opposite him.
“When I stepped foot on campus this fall I was worried I might not touch the field, I’ve got to be honest,” Harding quipped of MSU’s depth, “’cause we have so many guys that can run out there. I can think of 10 off the top of my head that can hit 95-plus (miles per hour) and when you combine that with the great called game that (pitching coach Scott Foxhall) does, I mean it’s so hard to hit against us.”
With second-year freshman Will Bednar continuing to work back from what Lemonis called soreness in his neck and still likely a few weeks away from full strength, it’s conceivable the Bulldogs could shake things up if MacLeod and Cerantola are ineffective against Eastern Michigan this coming weekend.
Harding and Sims have looked the part of legitimate weekend arm material if needed, while Johnson should prove a reliable reliever down the stretch. Wednesday, though, they combined to give MSU its third consecutive shutout for the first time since 1976.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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