STARKVILLE — Time and again, Mississippi State baseball coach John Cohen has asserted his belief in MSU’s stable of starting pitchers heading into the 2015 season.
He’s so comfortable, it appears, that he’s marching into the opening weekend of the new campaign without even naming a starting rotation.
While junior right-hander Preston Brown will get the start against Cincinnati in MSU’s season-opener today at 4 p.m., Cohen stopped short of announcing starters for the rest of MSU’s four-game slate this weekend. Instead, he kept his options open.
“For Game 1, we’re going to start Preston Brown,” said Cohen, who has led MSU to four straight NCAA Regional appearances. “I think we have a luxury of watching these two teams play. We’ll be able to see Cincinnati twice tomorrow. Because of that, I think we will wait to decide about Saturday as far as who pitches and in what order.”
The two teams referred to by Cohen are Miami (Ohio) and Cincinnati, as the Redhawks and the Bearcats will kick things off with a noon matchup today. That will allow Cohen and his coaching staff the ability to scout both in person before adjusting his personnel to fit MSU’s four-game schedule. In addition to today’s game against Cincinnati, the Bulldogs will play twice on Saturday, first at noon against Miami and again at 4 p.m. against Cincinnati. The Bulldogs and Bearcats will conclude the weekend with a 1:30 p.m. showdown Sunday afternoon.
To MSU’s pitchers, the ultimate order of which pitcher draws which start this weekend matters little.
“They haven’t really told us, but we all know we’re going to pitch this weekend,” said Brown, who was 4-3 with an earned run average of 3.00 in nine starts a season ago. “It really doesn’t matter to us. Everybody is just ready to get the season started.”
While Brown’s starting spot is set in stone, Cohen will enjoy plenty of flexibility with his other starters. Though he hasn’t committed to saying when each pitcher would go, Cohen stated that senior Lucas Laster would likely start on Saturday while several others remain in the mix.
The wild card in the equation is senior left-hander Ross Mitchell, who enters his final season with a career record of 24-5. One of MSU’s cornerstones for the last three seasons, Mitchell’s role as a senior hasn’t been clearly defined yet. Cohen has mentioned his desire to use Mitchell out of the bullpen but he will also be used as a starter when needed. Mitchell’s availability as a starter this weekend will be determined on his usage on Friday night.
“If we need Ross on Friday night, that might change your plans,” said Cohen. “If Ross doesn’t pitch in the first two, he might be available to start Game 3 on Saturday.”
Cohen mentioned several others as potential starters for the opening weekend.
“We certainly know that Lucas Laster is going to pitch,” said Cohen. “Jesse McCord is going to throw, Austin Sexton is going to throw. We’ll determine the order when the time comes.”
Regardless of the way Cohen juggles his pitching staff, the veteran coach believes the busy opening weekend – including a Tuesday game against Mississippi Valley State that will give MSU five games in five days – will benefit the Bulldogs.
“The neat thing about five games in five days is that it forces you to use a lot of guys,” said Cohen. “I like it because it really simulates tournament play. You get to observe teams play. You get to formulate a scouting report base on what you see. It also forces you to use your personnel. You cant have one catcher catch five games. It forces certain things to happen.”
For MSU’s players, any lineup combination or starting rotation will do. The Bulldogs are just ready to play.
“I’m just ready to get started,” said Laster. “I’m tired of pitching to our guys, I know they’re tired of hitting off of us. We want to play somebody else.”
The Bulldogs will do just that this weekend, taking on a Cincinnati group that is led by All-America candidate and preseason American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Ian Happ.
A junior outfielder, Happ is a preseason First Team All-American according to Baseball America. As a sophomore, Happ led the Bearcats with a .322 batting average, five home runs, 27 RBIs and 32 runs scored. He also added 19 stolen bases.
“Performance-wise, I think if he goes out and plays he’ll have a pretty good year..” said Cincinnati coach Ty Neal. “Some of our young guys need to learn a few things from Ian. That’s where he is probably most important.”
Despite having Happ, though, Cincinnati has been tabbed by AAC coaches to finish last in the conference, and the Bearcats feature 21 true freshmen on their roster.
MSU tabbed fifth by SEC coaches: Two years removed from playing for a national championship, MSU will enter the 2015 season looking for respect among SEC coaches.
On Thursday, the league announced the SEC Coaches’ All-SEC preseason teams and preseason poll. MSU, on the heels of a 39-24 season in 2014, heads into the new campaign pickd to finish fifth in the SEC West behind LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M and Arkansas. The coaches expect MSU to top only Only Miss and Auburn in the division.
Sophomore Gavin Collins, who will miss the first three-to-five weeks of the season, was MSU’s lone representative on the preseason All-SEC teams. He was a first-team selection.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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