Hunter Hines wowed the crowd at Missouri’s Taylor Stadium on Sunday.
The Mississippi State freshman hammered a 2-1 pitch from the Tigers’ Austin Troesser well over the right-field wall and down the hill sloping away from the ballpark. Hines’ home run left his bat at 113 miles per hour and was measured at an estimated distance of 473 feet. It put MSU up 3-0 before Missouri even came to bat.
But the Bulldogs didn’t score for the next four innings. The Tigers took the lead in the fifth and walked it off in the ninth for a 7-6 win.
For a Mississippi State team struggling to climb the Southeastern Conference standings, Sunday’s game (and the series loss it led to) seemed like a microcosm of the 2022 season.
Once again, MSU had plenty of power — but not much else.
Through 45 games so far — 25 wins and 20 losses — the Bulldogs sit tied for seventh among all NCAA Division I teams in home runs entering Tuesday. Mississippi State has gone deep 83 times already, and four of its players have homered 12 or more times.
But the Bulldogs’ other offensive statistics paint a picture of a team too reliant on the long ball to manage consistent success at the plate. Coach Chris Lemonis has preached all season keeping the ball in the middle of the field rather than driving it out of the park, and his hitters haven’t always been able to manage that.
Mississippi State is just 36th in slugging percentage, good for fourth in the Southeastern Conference. While that’s still a respectable rank, it means MSU is not producing other hits — particularly extra-base hits — at the same rate.
The Bulldogs are batting .281, which ranks 117th nationally. They have 74 doubles on the season, which is tied for 161st out of 293 Division I teams. Only 14 D-I teams have fewer than MSU’s four triples.
Mississippi State is also less proficient when it comes to getting on base. The Bulldogs’ on-base percentage ranks 106th in the country.
State’s power production has been consistent, at least. MSU has at least one home run in 13 of its last 14 games and slugged eight in the Missouri series.
But the Bulldogs will need more offense — from other sources — if they hope to make a late-season run.
Strikeouts coming for Bulldogs — but not without walks
Mississippi State is building on last year’s NCAA single-season record for strikeouts.
The Bulldogs’ 494 strikeouts so far rank third nationally, and their mark of 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings ranks fifth.
But those strikeouts haven’t come without a significant amount of walks.
MSU pitchers have issued 201 walks in 395 2/3 innings — 4.57 free passes per nine innings. If that mark sounds high, it is: The Bulldogs are below average nationally with the 170th fewest walk rate.
Of course, because of all those strikeouts, Mississippi State’s strikeout-to-walk ratio isn’t half bad. The 2.46 mark ranks 55th in the country.
But walks can kill, and the Bulldogs know it. They’ve issued at least one walk in every contest; they lost games against Georgia and Arkansas in which they allowed 12 and 11 walks, respectively.
Bulldogs near top in fielding percentage
Mississippi State played errorless defense throughout last year’s College World Series and has been similarly strong in 2022.
The Bulldogs’ fielding percentage of .984 ranks fourth in the nation and second in the SEC despite a two-error game Sunday against Missouri.
MSU has committed just 25 errors — tied for second-fewest in the nation — while recording 1,187 putouts so far. In 27 of their games, they’ve gone without an error, including five straight prior to Sunday.
Fielding percentage, of course, is not the optimal way to judge a defense. But in the absence of advanced metrics, the Bulldogs seem to be among the best defensive teams in the country.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
