STARKVILLE — Through eight games, the Mississippi State baseball team has hit 11 home runs, compared to four at this point last season.
The SEC Network called it the Cannizaro Effect.
That number was part of an impressive weekend of hitting for MSU — not that anyone could tell by how the team talked about its performance Sunday following a 9-8 loss to Marist.
MSU first-year coach Andy Cannizaro and some of his players were in a noticeably sour mood after a 3-1 weekend in which it set a respectable standard for offensive production.
“We are striking out way, way, way too much. It’s really frustrating,” Cannizaro said. “It needs to be a commitment to putting the ball in play when you get to two strikes. I don’t think we’re doing that. We’re having way too many non-competitive at-bats, way too many strikeouts. We’re striking out eight or 10 times a game. That is way too many.”
MSU struck out 33 times in four games last weekend. If it were to strike out at that rate, 8.25 times per game, over the course of 63 games, that would be 520 strikeouts in 63 games. The 2016 Bulldogs struck out 378 times.
Cannizaro also took issue with the timing of certain strikeouts. In the loss to Marist on Sunday, MSU loaded the bases with no outs trailing by two runs in the seventh inning, but it struck out twice and produced one run. Cannizaro called the strikeouts “non-competitive” after the game.
That was almost a perfect replica of what happened in MSU’s 12-4 victory against Marist on Saturday. MSU loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh inning before back-to-back strikeouts and a fielder’s choice got Marist out of the jam without allowing a run. MSU struck out 10 times in that game, including four with runners in scoring position.
On Sunday, trailing by one run, MSU started the bottom of the ninth with two swinging strikeouts.
Even while striking out too many times for Cannizaro’s liking, MSU scored eight or more runs in all four games. It has accomplished that feat in eight games in a row for the first time since 1999.
Nine games into the season, MSU leads the Southeastern Conference in runs (76), home runs (11), RBIs (68), and stolen bases (23). MSU is second in the conference in hits and doubles with 100 and 20, respectively.
It also was a career weekend for outfielder Brent Rooker, who was named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week and the SEC Player of the Week. Rooker had eight hits, including three home runs, and 14 RBIs.
In the face of all of that, Cannizaro hinted at the possibility of lineup changes.
“I’m going to put guys out on the field that give us the best chance to win, and if you’re striking out at that kind of rate,” he said, “it’s going to be really hard for those guys to stay in the lineup or get back in the lineup.”
Center fielder Jake Mangum had a similar tone after the game, but he saw the team as getting close to where Cannizaro wants it to be.
“We had a good weekend offensively — not quite enough (Sunday), but we’re really close,” he said. “We’re really close to being really, really good.”
Getting to where Cannizaro and Mangum think this team can get isn’t a measure of runs scored, but it seems to be more of a qualitative practice in the eyes of the Bulldogs.
“It’s not worrying about how many runs we’re scoring, it’s more about passing the bat back,” Mangum said. “If you string together a bunch of good at-bats, runs are going to be scored, and we have a bunch of guys that can do it.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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