After an uneven start to the season, Mississippi State has stabilized and established itself firmly within the top half of the Southeastern Conference. Which is why even a series win over a ranked Alabama team left a sour taste in the Bulldogs’ collective mouths because of how it ended.
Still, MSU (32-16, 14-10 SEC) is rapidly gaining ground in the RPI rankings, shooting all the way up to No. 18, and with a trip to a top-5 Arkansas team coming up this weekend, the Bulldogs have another opportunity to improve their metrics and inch closer to hosting an NCAA regional.
Free-flowing lineup offers pitchers no breaks
Left-handed pitchers gave MSU fits at times early in the year, but the Bulldogs jumped all over the Crimson Tide’s top two starters, both lefties, on Friday and Saturday. MSU chased Alabama ace Greg Farone after three-plus innings on Friday night in a run-rule win, and eight of the Bulldogs’ nine offensive starters had at least one hit. The only one who didn’t, Ethan Pulliam, still walked and scored in the second inning and drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
“We call it the machine,” third baseman Logan Kohler said. “Once the machine gets rolling, we just keep going and just keep working hard. (Hitting coach Jake Gautreau) is working with us nonstop.”
The machine kept rolling in Saturday’s victory, with MSU putting up eight runs on 10 hits despite Dakota Jordan and Hunter Hines going a combined 0-for-6. Even with a low walk rate, Bryce Chance has settled in as the Bulldogs’ new leadoff hitter due to his bat-to-ball skills. David Mershon can do a little of everything in the two-hole, and Connor Hujsak, who hits behind Jordan and Hines, is batting .387 with 22 RBI in 24 conference games.
Amani Larry, who hit a grand slam Friday night, is showing signs of breaking out of his slump, and Kohler was 6-for-12 with three home runs in the Alabama series. Even in Sunday’s loss, Kohler homered twice and Hujsak also went deep as part of a three-hit day.
“In the last few weeks, you’ve seen Amani have some big days, Logan have some big days and Hunter have some big days,” head coach Chris Lemonis said. “And everybody else has been pretty steady in there. Ethan Pulliam has jumped in and given us some really good at-bats. You’re getting a little more from everybody.”
Stephen, Cijntje continuing to front rotation
Purdue transfer Khal Stephen and sophomore Jurrangelo Cijntje, under the tutelage of new pitching coach Justin Parker, have helped turn MSU’s pitching staff from the worst in the SEC by ERA last year to the fourth-best this season. Neither pitcher had his best stuff against the Crimson Tide, but both battled through some rough patches and pitched deep enough to earn the win.
Stephen went five innings Friday night, the first time he was unable to pitch at least six frames since his first start of conference play against LSU. Cijntje pushed through a contact lens issue to complete seven innings the next day, saving most of the top arms in the Bulldogs’ bullpen. And with Tyler Davis and Tyson Hardin both making enormous strides forward from last season, that bullpen has turned into a strength as well.
MSU is still feeling the effects of Nate Dohm’s injury, though. Dohm left his start on Mar. 8 against Evansville with discomfort in his throwing arm, and threw just 12 pitches a month later against Georgia before deciding he was unable to continue. Dohm is likely to return at some point during the season, but not as a starter, so the Bulldogs could stick with Brooks Auger in the weekend rotation or go to a bullpen game with Evan Siary as the “bulk guy.”
Auger was excellent in his second start of the year at Vanderbilt, shutting out the Commodores through five innings before running into trouble, but gave up four runs in the second Sunday against Alabama and was done after that.
Fundamentals could still be cleaner
Fielding percentage is far from the most useful way to measure defense, either individually or as a team, but for what it’s worth, MSU is tied with Arkansas for the SEC’s best fielding percentage and the fewest errors in the conference. Still, the Bulldogs’ defense let them down on a few occasions Sunday, particularly during Alabama’s three-run fifth inning that broke the game open.
Baserunning blunders have also been a recurring theme, and MSU committed two of them Sunday. Hujsak was picked off at first base in the second, and an inning later catcher Joe Powell was thrown out trying to go from first to third on a two-out infield single by Jordan.
But if the Bulldogs can clean up some of those fundamental issues, figure out how to get through the third game of the weekend from a pitching standpoint and remain hot offensively, MSU will be a tough out come postseason time.
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