STARKVILLE – Mississippi State baseball got back in the win column on its return to Dudy Noble Field on Tuesday, beating Jackson State 17-1 in seven innings to improve to 17-4 on the year. The team is still working through questions in the pitching rotation after a series loss at Arkansas last weekend, but the order got back to its best with Vanderbilt coming to town for the first home SEC series of the season on Friday.
The win over the Tigers wasn’t a conference-caliber test of the team’s strength, but there was still a lot to look over from the midweek result.
Bullpen questions
The topic that really got head coach Brian O’Connor thinking after the game was a question about working through pitching and bullpen decisions after another pair of tough losses.
All four defeats this season have been against Top-10 opposition, but those are the kind of games MSU will need to navigate to get through conference play and into the postseason with a chance to host.
“Our starting pitching has been really outstanding, and I’d like to see us be a little more consistent in the bullpen and have the understanding of what we’re going to get when we put somebody out there,” O’Connor said. “That’s not a knock on anybody, that just hasn’t shown up yet, and typically, that happens with youth.”
O’Connor pointed to Tyler Pitzer and Brendan Sweeney, two relievers who got work against JSU on Tuesday, remarking that they’re still learning the trade at this level. With several sophomore arms shouldering heavy responsibilities, the biggest goal has been to get guys into situations where they can get more innings under their belt. It’s about making the most of those opportunities, learning with experience and finding a way to overcome adversity.
“Have there been games where we’ve had defensive mishaps? Absolutely,” O’Connor said. “But you look across all of college baseball and it happens. I’m watching two SEC games on Sunday and their team won the game by one run and their catcher had two passed balls in the game. Well, that happened against Chone James against Arkansas. These kids, if they were that good and that ready, they’d be playing in the big leagues right now. They’re going to make mistakes.”
Emerging talent
MSU’s batting order got plenty of work against JSU, with substitutions giving way to a few different players trying to make an impact going forward.
One player who stayed in the starting lineup was true freshman Jacob Parker. He recorded two hits in Game 1 of the series against Arkansas last weekend and made his seventh start of the season, going 3-4 with an RBI against the Tigers.
Dubbed a “star in the making” by O’Connor, Parker is earning and making the most of his chances for the Bulldogs.
“We’re obviously a really deep team, a great team,” Parker said. “I’m just trying to seize every opportunity I can when I get in the lineup. Because it’s fun. It’s baseball, and I love being out there with my guys.”
Fellow freshman Peter Mershon also got into the game late while transfers Blake Bevis, Kevin Milewski and Drew Wyers all recorded hits, with the latter clearing the bases on three-run double.
Ace Reese injury scare
The Bulldogs avoided becoming one of the biggest stories of the night with Ace Reese avoiding major injury. The third baseman was subbed out of the game after fouling a ball off his foot, but O’Connor told local media after the game that it was just a precaution and he was walking around fine after putting some ice on it.
“He fouled a ball off his foot, and I didn’t want to take any chances with him,” O’Connor said. “I wanted to get ice on it right away. He’s walking around fine, I don’t think there is any problem at all.”
Reese had surgery in late summer to address an injury in his left foot, removing a bone fragment in his big toe, but it was not the same foot that the ball hit on Tuesday night.
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