STARKVILLE — Logan Tanner never flinched. Not through an 0-for-2 start to the day. Not amid Eastern Michigan starter Justin Meis’ eight-inning gem. Not as Mississippi State entered the final frame of Saturday’s contest down a run.
Sitting on a first-pitch fastball, Tanner annihilated Cameron Wagoner’s first delivery of the day into the rigs in left-center field to give No. 3 MSU (12-3) its third walk-off win of the year in a 4-1 stunner over Eastern Michigan (4-4).
“I told Luke (Hancock) before that inning started, ‘Let’s end it,'” Tanner said. “As soon as he got (Tanner Allen) in, they brought the infield in. I just knew I had to hit something hard, and I got a good barrel on the ball.”
Before Allen smashed the first pitch of the ninth through the middle, before Hancock singled home the tying run and before Tanner obliterated the final pitch of the day into the seats, it was MSU starter Eric Cerantola who offered the day’s optimism.
Frustrated, disappointed and erratic, Cerantola looked the part of his maddeningly inconsistent self in Saturday’s first inning. He plunked two of the first three batters he faced. His fastball, while threatening at 97-plus miles per hour, missed the plate more than it caught the zone.
Yet unlike starts of weeks and years past, Cerantola never wilted. He punched back. Dipping his velocity a touch, he found the zone on 24 of his first 36 pitches while flashing the filthy mix of speed and movement that has scouts drooling over his pro potential.
“I was frustrated with myself because I know it’s not me,” a clearly relieved Cerantola said postgame. “Obviously these first couple starts weren’t great. I just felt like I was better.”
The book on Cerantola is as flummoxing as it is promising. A 6-foot-5 righty, he’s touched 100 on the radar gun this spring. His fastball consistently sits 97-98, while his low-80s breaking ball is borderline unhittable when backed up against his four-seamer.
But for what Cerantola has on paper, he’s never put together week to week. He currently leads the team with five hit batters, while his ERA ballooned to 11.81 heading into Saturday’s start.
Against Eastern Michigan, though, Cerantola was electric. He recorded two strikes for every one ball he threw over the first two innings. After hitting two of the first three batters he faced, the hard-throwing Canadian rang up four of the six Eagles he saw between the second and third frames.
Closing out his third inning of work, Cerantola pressed off the rubber and delivered a devastating 97 mile per hour fastball at the letters to Eastern Michigan leadoff man Will Oberg. Oberg swung out of his shoes to no avail.
Strutting off the rubber, Cerantola hopped toward the MSU dugout with a swaggy confidence that’s been oh so lacking throughout his mercurial Bulldog career.
“I mean, it’s power stuff in the big leagues if he ever harnesses it and gets it right,” Lemonis said. “So we wanted to make sure he had every opportunity, and hopefully he can build on this.”
Entering Saturday, the Bulldog starting rotation has been under a mound of scrutiny. Cerantola and ace Christian MacLeod combined to pitch just 4.2 innings, while allowing seven runs on nine hits in last weekend’s series against Kent State.
Cerantola, in particular, drew the ire of Lemonis following his start against the Golden Flashes. Dancing between lighting a fire under his third-year sophomore and signaling for a change, Lemonis said there was a fine line between getting Cerantola his work and winning ballgames. Cerantola responded emphatically.
So too did the Dudy Noble crowd. With 3,965 in attendance Saturday, the limited-capacity crowd offered its most boisterous display to date as the familiar tones of techno music blared from the loudspeakers while MSU’s late-inning rally developed.
As Tanner connected for a deafening crack of metal against leather, the maroon and white-clad faithful rose to their feet. No need to watch where the ball landed. Everyone in the stadium knew the result.
For the third time this season, MSU needed a hit and found it. The pitching staff kept them in it. The Bulldogs’ bats ended it.
“As soon as (Allen) got a hit,” Tanner said through a grin, “I knew we were going to win it.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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