While Mississippi State baseball coach John Cohen decided Monday on his Game 1 starter for the Southeastern Conference tournament, University of Florida coach Kevin O”Sullivan still is unsure.
One thing”s certain: Florida”s pitcher Wednesday won”t be one of its three weekend starters.
Hudson Randall, Brian Johnson, and Karsten Whitson are 23-6 this season, and Randall and Whitson have ERAs under 2.50.
Sullivan, however, doesn”t want to throw any of the trio out on short rest, though sophomore left-hander Johnson would have entered Wednesday”s game against the Bulldogs on five days rest instead of the usual six.
Florida likely will turn to midweek starter Alex Panteliodis (4-2, 4.65 ERA). The 6-foot-2, 230-pound left-hander has started eight games this season, but he has the second-highest batting average of Florida”s eight pitchers who”ve started games this season.
In his last start against Jacksonville, he gave up four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings.
Advantage Bulldogs?
“We got to come out and take the same approach regardless (of who is pitching),” MSU first baseman Ryan Collins said. “We”ve got to play good defense, we got to have good at-bats and put that together. The big thing for our offense is getting walks, getting HBPs, make sure we get runners on and clutch hits with two outs. Doesn”t matter who they have up there, they have a pretty good staff.”
Florida”s bullpen also could be an issue for MSU. The third-seeded Gators got 13 1/3 innings from their bullpen in the series win against the sixth-seeded Bulldogs in Starkville. Florida”s bullpen gave up just one run and five hits in Starkville.
“Florida is so efficient about getting so many outs early in the count,” MSU coach John Cohen said earlier this season. “They have three or less pitch at-bats, so we”re going to have to try to get hits early in the count.”
Bulldogs to practice at home
Just two and a half hours away from Hoover, Ala., the Bulldogs will prepare for the Southeastern Conference tournament at Dudy Noble Field.
Outside of the University of Alabama and Auburn, the Bulldogs have the shortest trek of any team set to participate in the SEC tournament.
Cohen also feels his team is better served going through its practice routine instead of the one-hour time blocks reserved for team practices today at Regions Park.
MSU was slated to practice at 12:20 p.m. today.
“Before we play in a tournament or go through a series, we go over all of our bunt coverages, all our first and thirds just like everybody else,” Cohen said. “We like to do that the day before, so we”re gonna need a couple of hours. What we were gonna end up having to do if we did practiced in Hoover is spend an hour there, go to another site and spend an hour or two there.”
Reed named to SEC Community Service Team
Junior pitcher Caleb Reed has been named to the 2011 SEC Baseball Community Service Team, which annually spotlights student-athletes from each school who give back to their community through volunteer work.
Reed has worked closely with the MSU M-Club”s projects that encourage the development of reading skills among Starkville elementary schools. During the fall semester he volunteered as a reader with the Bully”s Book Blitz at Sudduth Elementary School.
He has also participated in the SAAC and M-Club Thanksgiving canned food drives, collecting and then distributing canned food items to Starkville area families in need.
He served as a speaker during the program portion of Boy Scout Day at Dudy Noble Field, and has been a popular guest speaker sharing his faith with church youth groups in Starkville and surrounding communities.
The Cleveland native also represents the baseball team on the Mississippi State Student-Athlete Advisory Council.
Staff reports were included in this story.
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