ATLANTA — Mississippi State”s baseball team has made its money off playing small-ball this season.
There”s temptation, though, in Russ Chandler Stadium, the site of the Bulldogs NCAA regional game against rival Southern Miss at 2 p.m. (CDT) today.
The right-center gap is 353 feet, about 21 feet shorter than the alley at Dudy Noble Field.
For Mississippi State left-handed hitters Jaron Shepherd, CT Bradford and Ryan Collins, the invitation to aim for the fence in right-center will be there.
However, now isn”t the time to divert from the blueprint that helped the Bulldogs end a three-year postseason drought, MSU coach John Cohen said.
“If we”re in striking distance, we”re gonna do everything we can to hit and run, run and hit, bunt, try and steal bases — all the things we”ve been built to do even though this ballpark plays a little bit smaller to the right side,” Cohen said Thursday. “When you”re facing guys that have pretty good stuff like (USM starting pitcher Todd) McInnis, you try to put the barrel in the right spot. If you try and generate the power, it”s a lot less likely that you”re gonna have the barrel in the right spot.”
MSU finished 10th in the SEC in home runs with 28.
The power-alley wasn”t the only spot hitters from both teams experienced the ball carry greater than expected; hitters were seen nailing deep home runs down both lines during batting practice.
“Right off the bat, we noticed it travels a whole lot better than our field,” MSU third baseman Jarrod Parks said. “Our field plays big, and I believe (teammate) Hunter Renfroe was one of the first guys up and hit one off that (Georgia Tech) indoor facility in left field. It travels a whole lot better. I heard it travels a little better to right than left, but yeah, it plays a little bit short.”
For Parks, currently in a 7-for-33 hitting slump over the last nine games, there”s even greater temptation should the Bulldogs find themselves in a hole. Parks admitted that once he realized his pitch recognition was off and pitchers were challenging him more than before, he tried to compensate by making the big play with one swing.
Cohen”s advice to Parks and the rest of his hitters is to take effortless wings and make the pitcher work for outs. In essence, Cohen wants his players to do “a whole lot of average things well instead of trying to force spectacular things.”
Players “pressing” to make the big play has been noted by Cohen in losses to LSU and to Florida and Arkansas in the SEC tournament last week.
When Parks is getting hits and getting walks, he makes the top half of MSU”s lineup incredibly tough to get out with the current hot streak of second baseman Nick Vickerson is currently on. Vickerson, who has batted behind Parks in the four-hole and in the five-hole, has raised his batting average 50 points over the last month.
MSU reached had its best offensive performances of the season when Parks, Vickerson and Jaron Shepherd were on fire. When the Bulldogs won eight or 10 games during a key stretch at the back end of the season, the trio combined to go 39-for-103, with Vickerson going 16-for-36 to lead the group.
Shepherd has hit safely in 14 of MSU”s last 17 games.
However, over the last five games in which MSU has lost four, Shepherd, Parks and Vickerson are just 13-for-50.
Though Shepherd went 1-for-8 and had some big misses in Hoover, Cohen is confident the senior lefty can hold down the fourth or fifth spot in the lineup.
“Jaron, he”s really kind of changed his stroke and worked hard on it,” Cohen said. “I put a lot of stock in the fact that a senior has a lot more experience. He”s got some big, big hits for us the last few weeks. He”s been very valuable in that fourth and fifth spot, depending on if it”s right or left-handed on the mound.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
