It’s becoming a trend.
For the second time in as many weeks, the Mississippi State baseball team delivered a disastrous first inning against a sub-195 RPI team followed by a resounding comeback.
Tuesday, the Diamond Dawgs rallied for an 18-5 win over lowly Mississippi Valley State.
Yet the disheartening starts are becoming less about finding ways to compete early and have shifted more toward getting quality innings from back-of-the-rotation starters.
Freshman pitcher Eric Cerantola struggled mightily to find the zone for the second straight start. The 6-foot-5 righty recorded just one out while hitting three batters, walking another and tossing a wild pitch.
The brutal outing amounted to three MVSU runs in the first inning without a single hit.
“He looks like he’s hoping it’s a strike instead of making it a strike,” head coach Chris Lemonis said. “Both weeks coach Foxhall comes down and its electric in the bullpen, throwing strikes. It’s just a young kid fighting the game a little bit right now.”
Peyton Plumlee was solid in relief. He gave up two runs on two hits and struck out five in 3.2 innings of work. Generally counted on as a middle-to-long reliever, Plumlee gave a glimpse as to what he could provide in the early goings of games Tuesday.
It’s worth noting the MSU pitching staff has been stellar to date. Freshman JT Ginn, a first-round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, has been virtually unhittable during his early foray into college baseball.
Ginn currently boasts a 6-0 record with a 2.58 ERA in 38.1 innings pitched. Redshirt junior Ethan Small has been similarly dominant. Small owns a 1.75 ERA in 36 innings of work. He’s also allowed just 19 hits to 58 strikeouts in his six appearances.
With Ginn and Small dominating on the front end of the rotation, MSU continues to roll. Yet MSU remains limited outside of its two stars on the back part of the rotation.
Lemonis pointed to redshirt junior starter Keegan James, who has struggled to a 4.15 ERA thus far, as someone who stands to improve.
“We need him,” Lemonis said. “He’s too good and he’s really invested in the program and how he goes about his work, so you’re going to see him out there sometime soon.”
Heading into a highly anticipated weekend series against LSU, Lemonis said it is still uncertain who will start Saturday’s third game after Ginn and Small.
“We’ll figure out our game three starter as we get to it,” he said. “We just don’t know right now and it will probably depend on how the weekend goes.”
While Lemonis and his staff work through the starter issues, he mentioned Tuesday the team has discussed using a reliever in the first inning to play into the team’s deep bullpen.
“For us on Sundays, the way our bullpen is, we can run a guy out there for one time through the lineup,” Lemonis said. “It doesn’t have to be a guy go six innings.”
First pitch against the Tigers is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at Dudy Noble Field.
DAWG NOTES: It was announced Tuesday that Thursday’s and Friday’s contests against LSU will be nationally televised.
ESPNU will run Thursday’s broadcast from the Left Field Lofts, while Friday’s will originate from the broadcast booth inside Dudy Noble Field on the SEC Network.
The series finale Saturday will be available on SEC Network+.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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