First place in the Southeastern Conference was slipping through the Mississippi State baseball team’s fingers Friday afternoon, a day after its third-consecutive conference loss.
MSU returned from College Station, Texas, 24 hours later having guaranteed no worse than a tie for first by the weekend’s end.
The turnaround began with Denver McQuary and Cole Gordon.
McQuary and Gordon combined for a strong effort on the mound in a 5-1 victory against Texas A&M on Friday. They allowed five hits and walked one. MSU (32-17, 16-8 SEC) beat Texas A&M (34-15, 14-10) 4-3 Saturday to win the series. It was MSU’s 15th series win in the last two years, the most in a two-year span since 1988-89.
McQuary started and struck out five in five innings. Cole Gordon allowed two hits and hit a batter in a 46-pitch, four-inning save.
“It allowed us to go into (Saturday’s) ballgame with all of our weapons available out of the bullpen,” MSU coach Andy Cannizaro said.
MSU ended up needing all of them, as it used three relief pitchers Saturday for the final five innings.
Self shuts the door
No reliever MSU used Saturday did more than freshman Riley Self, who earned the win by pitching 3 1/3 innings. The only blemish was a walk.
Self’s appearance — which set a career-high against conference opposition — saved MSU closer Spencer Price, who has been battling an ankle injury. Cannizaro said Price could have pitched if needed, but he benefited from the prolonged rest Self provided.
“We didn’t go into (Saturday) anticipating using (Self) for that many innings, but he was in such a rhythm, really pounding the strike zone, had strike one going all day and was getting a lot of ground balls early in the count,” Cannizaro said. “The ball was really jumping out of his hand today.”
In his last seven outings, all against SEC competition, Self has thrown 10 1/3 innings and allowed one run, four hits, and three walks. He has struck out 13.
Life without Stovall
With Cody Brown and Luke Alexander capable of playing second base, Cannizaro had several options when second baseman Hunter Stovall went down with a broken hand.
Cannizaro initially moved Alexander from third to second and replaced him with Harrison Bragg for the remainder of the Auburn series. Cannizaro could easily do the same with freshman catcher Dustin Skelton, who can play third.
Cannizaro chose to move Brown from left field to second, where he has started in Stovall’s absence in the past. Elijah MacNamee, who is from Cypress, Texas, replaced Brown in left field.
MacNamee has been a designated hitter almost exclusively in SEC play, but adding defensive duties didn’t affect his performance at the plate. In his return to his home state, MacNamee had four hits, one of them a double, and impressed Cannizaro with his defense.
“He made a lot of really nice plays,” Cannizaro said. “He came and got the ball really well and certainly picked up some really big hits.”
The move could have created competition for playing time between Bragg and Alexander at third base, but Cannizaro stayed with Alexander at third and used Bragg at designated hitter. Bragg started against Texas A&M on Thursday before Hunter Vansau pinch hit for him. Vansau remained in that spot the rest of the weekend.
Strange Saturday
With its spot atop the SEC on the line, MSU won a game with the heart of its order — Jake Mangum, Brent Rooker, Ryan Gridley, and Brown — combining for zero hits.
“The more we play, the deeper our lineup is getting,” Cannizaro said. “I love the way we’re playing. I think we’re a really dangerous club.”
Catcher Josh Lovelady, right fielder Tanner Poole, and MacNamee had MSU’s seven hits. Lovelady had three hits and an RBI, while Poole had two hits, including a double, and an RBI.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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