STARKVILLE — Rarely does a broadcast hit the air or a blog post be written that doesn’t address the pitching concerns for the Mississippi State baseball team.
With as many as nine regular contributors to the staff out with season-ending injuries, the Bulldogs have relied on a strange collection of arms to help the squad through the season. When Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Brent Rooker took the mound at the Southeastern Conference tournament, he became the 20th Bulldog to take the mound this season.
To offset any deficiencies on the mound, the Bulldogs have turned up the intensity on offense. MSU has unveiled an aggressive style of play under first-year coach Andy Cannizaro. The Bulldogs swing early in counts, steal bases at will, and always look for an opportunity to take the extra base.
“We go all out,” Rooker said. “It’s a fun style of play. The job is to put all of the pressure on the other team’s defense. There never know what we are thinking. Just about every team has the green light to go out and make plays.”
The aggressiveness has led to some baserunning mistakes. It also led to some big innings.
Big innings will be come in handy this weekend when MSU plays in the NCAA postseason for the 36th time in program history. MSU will join Illinois-Chicago, South Alabama, and Southern Mississippi for the Hattiesburg Regional.
In the opening day of the double-elimination event, No. 2 seed MSU (36-24) will face No. 3 seed South Alabama (39-19) at 6 p.m. Friday at Pete Taylor Park.
To the casual observer, one might think Cannizaro has altered his philosophy because of the lack of pitching depth. Instead, Cannizaro is following the blueprint that he made him highly-coveted while an assistant coach working with hitters at LSU.
“I don’t feel like you can lay back and let the game come to you,” Cannizaro said. “I am really proud of this team for finding a way to win 36 games and 17 games in the Southeastern Conference. However, we didn’t go out of character. We are going to recruit players who have the ability to impact the game at the plate, on the bases, defensively and on the mound.
“It has been a subtle change but the buy-in from the players has been incredible. After winning the conference a year ago, you have a nucleus of guys who know what it takes to win on this level. So you tweak some things. The guys have really responded.”
MSU enters postseason play fourth in the conference with a .285 batting average. The Bulldogs have attempted 104 stolen bases (four less than Missouri) and have been successful 69 times. The total is third in the conference.
A large part of the offensive success comes from Rooker, who leads the league with a .404 average, 21 home runs, and 76 RBIs. The Bulldogs are averaging 5.6 runs per game.
In the Hattiesburg Regional, MSU will face South Alabama for the fourth time this season and could possibly face Southern Miss for the second time this season.
“You are going to have score a lot of runs,” Cannizaro said. “That is where we are as a team. It’s a regional where the teams can score runs. We gave the team the weekend off after the (SEC) tournament. I think the time away is a good thing. I think everybody is energized and ready to go.”
Last season, MSU earned its first national seed. In the Starkville Regional, MSU used six pitchers. None of those pitchers are on this year’s roster.
Cole Gordon has been named MSU’s starter for Friday night. He is coming off his best start, a seven-plus inning effort against top-seeded Florida in the SEC tournament.
“We have a lot of confidence in Cole and (projected Saturday starter) Konnor (Pilkington),” Cannizaro said. “We also have confidence in what we are doing on offense. We have a lot of guys feeling good.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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