STARKVILLE — Hunter Stovall did everything he could to be ready for his much-awaited return.
A finicky hamstring injury doesn’t give one many options, but Stovall found one: standing in the batter’s box during live bullpen sessions, which allowed him to keep his eyes trained to track pitches.
The one thing he couldn’t prepare for: the curveball.
But after going 0-for-2 Friday night in his first appearance since March 17, the Mississippi State second baseman made in the weekend series against Stovall went 4-for-7 and scored four runs to help MSU take two of three games from Kentucky to win the Southeastern Conference weekend series at Dudy Noble Field.
“Hunter makes us go,” MSU coach Andy Cannizaro said. “He’s a tremendous defender at second base. He plays with a crazy energy on the field every day. He gives us such a competitive at-bat in the nine hole. He does such a good job of turning the lineup over to Mangum, Rooker, and Gridley with runners in scoring position. He truly makes our team go from the nine hole.”
Stovall admitted the curveball stymied him Friday in the series opener. But he went 2-for-4 and scored two runs Saturday in a 10-6 victory. He went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI in the 10-6 victory Sunday to improve his batting average to .327.
Luck of the fall
With MSU trailing 2-1 Friday, Cody Brown hit an innocent fly ball that straddled the left-field line. Kentucky left fielder Zach Reks ran under it with time to spare as Brown looked on.
Then Reks’ ankle buckled, and Brown turned on the jets.
As the ball bounced away from Reks and rolled toward the corner the left-field wall, Brown had time to speed around the bases for an inside-the-park home run.
As Brown saw the ball hit the grass, his first thought was to take third base, but he wasn’t surprised when he approached the bag and saw the signal from third-base coach Mike Brown to head for home.
“I had a good jump on it and knew that ball kicked pretty far,” Brown said. “I was hoping I would get it.”
Left field was a good spot for Brown, who started there in every game of the series. Stovall’s return to second base, where Brown had started multiple times in his absence, prompted the move to the outfield.
Cannizaro said Brown was comfortable in left field. He said Brown would go out of his way to take fly balls in practice in case he was asked to play in the outfield.
Cannizaro said Brown likely will be the every-day left fielder with Stovall back at second base.
Mangum the magnet
If Mangum stays on his current trajectory and ends the regular season among the conference leaders in on-base percentage, he might have the bruises on his legs to thank.
Mangum ended the Kentucky series leading the conference in hit by pitches with 12. Last season, he was hit by a pitch five times. Mangum was hit twice Saturday, which prompted Cannizaro to joke about placing a foam pad on the back of his legs to protect him.
“He’s going to get pounded in and in and in all the time,” Cannizaro said. “Unfortunately, when teams start doing that, you’re going to get hit. Teams feel like they can get him out with hard and in late in the count. A lot of times, if you’re asking somebody to beat somebody in that does not have great fastball command, they ultimately end up hitting the guy, and that’s kind of what’s happened a lot this year.”
Mangum started on the mound and pitched two innings. He also had two hits and two RBIs as the designated hitter. Cannizaro saw that coming.
“I don’t think there’s anything I could do to get the ball away from him at this point,” Cannizaro said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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