STARKVILLE — The baseball programs at Mississippi State University and the University of Florida don’t get along on or off the field.
What started as an intense rivalry between the Southeastern Conference rivals has escalated in the past couple of years into a war of words following actions both sides have taken objection to.
“A lot of guys just don’t like them and the way they and their coaches carry themselves,” MSU shortstop Adam Frazier said last season. “It’s their swagger. They know they’re good and play that way, so you can’t hate them too much for that.”
The teams will meet again at 6:30 tonight in game one of a three-game series at Dudy Noble Field. The Gators (14-16, 4-5 Southeastern Conference), who have revived their season after stumbling in the first month, have taken eight of their last 11 regular-season series against the Bulldogs since 2000. MSU (24-8, 3-6) will try to rebound after losing its fourth consecutive weekend series and falling from the Baseball America Top 25 poll for the first time this season.
The rivalry starts in the dugouts, as MSU coach John Cohen and Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan coach their programs to be tough minded.
“I would say the dislike for Florida starts and ends with the two coaching staffs, without a doubt,” former MSU third baseman Jarrod Parks said. “They’d never address it with us, but it seemed like the Florida coaches really hated us, and I know their coaches really rubbed me the wrong way as a leader of the team two years ago. I would guess our coaching staff didn’t care for them much, either.”
Parks, who played third base for two seasons and led MSU in batting average, walks, hit by pitches, on-base percentage and consecutive starts in 2011, was in the thick of the intensity two years ago when the programs conducted a bean ball war and then played an emotionally charged Super Regional series in Gainesville, Fla. Parks told The Dispatch in a phone interview he later discovered while playing in minor league ball for two seasons in the MLB’s Los Angeles Angels organization with former Florida players that the Gators were instructed not to speak to the Bulldogs before, during, or after games.
“They’re pretty cool guys, but they even said to me they were told to be that way from their coaches,” Parks said. “Any bad call that goes against them their third base coach (Craig Bell) would be cussing me out asking me how much we paid these umpires. I don’t know about you, but that rubbed me the wrong way, and I would yell back, ‘Dude, it’s not my fault.’ ”
O’Sullivan is 10-3 against MSU since taking over at Florida for Cohen’s mentor, Pat McMahon.
“I see a really young club that can get on a roll at any moment,” Cohen said of the 2013 Gators. “I’ve seen a team that’s played one of the best schedules in the country.”
The animosity appeared to begin in an 18-0 victory by Florida in 2011 in Starkville on Super Bulldog Weekend. MSU outfielder Taylor Stark appeared to intentionally step on the foot of Gators first baseman Vickash Ramjit while going down the line on a routine ground ball. The Gators responded in the next half-inning by hitting outfielder C.T. Bradford, the state of Florida’s Mr. Baseball, in the back on the first pitch, prompting a warning by the home plate umpire.
“We knew (an MSU player getting hit) was going to happen after Taylor did that,” Parks said. “They were protecting their player, and I can understand that as part of the game.”
After the game, both coaching staffs met behind home plate to discuss what happened in what later was described by many in the MSU program as an awkward conversation.
“Players think about those things. Coaches don’t,” Cohen said about the Florida rivalry. “I think sometimes those things distract from a highly competitive situation. I can promise you our coaching staff hasn’t spent one moment on that stuff.”
Coaches from both teams had heated verbal exchanges at home plate following the Gators’ 8-6 victory in the 2011 Super Regional less than a month later.
In the first out of the ninth inning for MSU, Bulldogs senior designated hitter Cody Freeman hit a pop fly that Gators catcher Mike Zunino caught. However, while the ball was in the air, then-MSU first base coach Nick Mingione appeared to throw his leg out in front of Ramjit and tripped him.
While it appeared Mingione, who is now the third base coach at MSU after former assistant Lane Burroughs left Starkville for the head coaching position at Northwestern State University, attempted to help Ramjit up and make sure he wasn’t hurt, O’Sullivan ran across the field yelling at the MSU coaching staff. This immediately caught the attention of MSU pitching coach Butch Thompson and the men were face-to-face before being separated by home plate umpire Billy Speck.
Cohen had words with O’Sullivan when the opposing coaching staffs went to home plate for the post-game handshake. O’Sullivan then sprinted over to the Florida dugout to do a gator chomp motion to the Gators’ fans. Cohen was seen screaming at the Florida dugout as he left the field.
“I’ve thought about it (and) both teams battled for three hours today,” O’Sullivan said after the game. “Everybody’s emotions are riding high. I would hate to have that one incident be the main focus of the game.”
Ramjit, a senior, is hitting .294. He was a team-high 5-for-12 (.417) with a two-run home run last weekend in a series victory against the University of Mississippi.
The Florida pitching staff had a 0.93 ERA against the Rebels, highlighted by shutouts Saturday and Sunday. It marked the first time Florida recorded consecutive shutouts since March 10 and 12, 2010. Ole Miss hit just .140 (13-for-93) and was outscored 14-4.
Florida will go with junior right-hander Jonathan Crawford tonight. Crawford is the first Florida pitcher to be named SEC Pitcher of the Week in nearly two years. He threw a two-hit shutout Saturday.
“When you look at our schedule, our kids understand we’re not going to probably catch a team that is struggling for the remainder of the season,” Cohen said. “We have three teams, besides Florida, under .500 (overall). We don’t play any of those three teams this season. That tells you how daunting our task is.”
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