STARKVILLE — Mississippi State is learning right now.

With a plethora of new faces, both upperclassmen and freshman, it’s a new experience for many of them playing college baseball at the Division I level. Even with all the hype that surrounded the Bulldogs in the preseason, they are still trying to find their way.

Even though the No. 20 Bulldogs are three games into the new season, they went through some peaks and valleys in two losses to Florida Atlantic, 10-4 Friday and 4-0 Saturday, and a 17-4 win over South Dakota State in the first game Saturday at Dudy Noble Field.

“I remember for the last seven months we were playing each other, so there’s always going to be a learning curve with all of that,” MSU junior Jack Kruger said. “It’s just kind of the way baseball goes sometimes.”

MSU’s opening day lineup featured only four players — Jacob Robson, Brent Rooker, Reid Humphreys and Ryan Gridley — who played significant time last season. The starting pitcher, Dakota Hudson, got his first start since the 2014 season as he pitched in relief a year ago. Of the five newcomers in the lineup for the first loss to the Owls, three were freshmen (Elih Marrero, Luke Alexander and Jake Mangum). Marrero, Alexander and Mangum combined to go 1-for-11 with a solo home run by Alexander in the opener.

The Bulldogs (1-2) hung tough in the first game of the season, but tied at 2 entering the seventh inning, the Bulldog pitching staff allowed eight runs. MSU used five freshman pitchers during that inning.

“When you’re a freshman, you go through this surreal experience that you don’t even really know what you’re doing,” MSU coach John Cohen said. “We had to get that out of their system.”

MSU brought in the No. 3 recruiting class in the country with many high profile names with the potential to have good careers at MSU. It was a learning experience for many of them, especially the pitchers, in the first game.

However, Cohen and his players feel like the first appearance for the freshmen won’t define them moving forward.

“I think they’re going to respond well,” Robson said. “I have a lot of faith in them. Physically and mentally, all those guys who came in are very strong, very skilled. Anybody who watched this game can tell that we’re a very skilled and talented team. It’s just a matter of time before we put it together.”

In the second game against the Owls (3-0), the Bulldogs threw junior Austin Sexton. He cruised through the first four innings allowing just one run, but gave up three runs in the fifth inning.

The Bulldog offense, who had 34 hits in the first two games, only managed four hits and were 1-for-12 with runners on and 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

Kruger, who went 6-for-13 with four double and six RBIs, said FAU starter Marc Stewart had a good approach and got them off balance. Kruger also said MSU’s approach at the plate wasn’t the best with too many popups and not enough line drives.

All during preseason, Cohen has been preaching to his batters what they need to do to be successful, something they didn’t do in the nightcap.

“You just can’t hit fly balls in the ballpark,” Cohen said. “If you hit fly balls in the ballpark, they’re going to get caught. That was a point of emphasis this year and we stressed that so much, that it’s really disappointing that our older guys hit so many balls in the air. You have to hit line drives and ground balls in this ballpark or you’re going to get beat.”

MSU shook off the season-opening loss to the Owls and pounded out 17 hits against the Jackrabbits (0-2) and got a good performance from both Daniel Brown and Keegan James. The duo of pitchers gave up all four runs on 13 hits and struck out nine batters. In the first three games, MSU’s pitching staff has recorded 33 strikeouts.

The Bulldogs will look to bounce back again as they close out the opening weekend today at 3:30 p.m. (SEC Netowrk+) against the Jackrabbits. Cohen said junior right hander Zac Houston will get the start on the mound.

Although the first three games haven’t gone like the Bulldogs have wanted them to, they understand it’s early in the season and early in the process of coming together as a team.

“No one in that locker room is worried about what’s to come, no one is panicking, nothing like that,” Kruger said. “It’s the game of baseball and I think we play it pretty well.”

Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait

Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.