STARKVILLE — Ross Mitchell knows to expect the unexpected.
With less than a week remaining until Mississippi State’s baseball team opens its 125th season, Mitchell, MSU’s do-everything pitcher for the past three seasons, knows he will figure prominently into the team’s plans on the mound.
He just doesn’t know what those plans are.
“They haven’t really told us,” Mitchell said. “It doesn’t matter to me. Whether I’m starting in the SEC or coming out of the bullpen, it’s about throwing strikes and getting outs. This team has so many good arms. It’s just a matter of making your pitches count when you get out there.”
Whether a starter or reliever, MSU coach John Cohen and his coaches know what to expect from Mitchell, a senior from Smyrna, Tennessee, who is third in school history with a .828 winning percentage. He carries a 24-5 record into his final season. Throughout his career, Mitchell has bounced from the starting rotation to the bullpen and back.
Mitchell isn’t the only one who isn’t certain about his role. With five days remaining until Friday night’s season opener against Cincinnati, Cohen hasn’t announced a pitching rotation, but that’s nothing new for a team that has thrived in recent years using versatile starters and a dominating bullpen.
Asked Saturday during MSU’s Media Day if he had determined a starting rotation, Cohen laid out a plan that included several candidates.
“We haven’t decided that, but a guy like Preston Brown is somebody who needs to pitch on the weekends,” said Cohen, who is 130-68 in his past three seasons at MSU. “Lucas Laster has pitched very well. Ross, we know what he brings. We’d love to have the capability to put Ross in the bullpen. Is he the third starter? We don’t know yet. Austin Sexton is a guy that has pitched well, and Jesse McCord, a freshman out of Spanish Fort, Alabama, has been lights out.”
Brown, a 6-foot, 195-pound right-hander out of Germantown, Tennessee, showed flashes Friday he could be a starter in the Southeastern Conference. The redshirt junior threw five scoreless five innings and allowed only two hits to lead the Maroon team to a 4-2 victory against the Gray team. As a sophomore, Brown went 4-3 with a 3.00 ERA (nine starts). He allowed two home runs in 45 innings, and has progressed to the point he is the favorite to be the staff’s ace.
“That’s something that has been my goal since I got here,” Brown said. “Everybody wants the ball, and I’ve worked hard to get where I need to be. I want to go out there and win games for my team. (I) can’t wait for the season to get here.”
Then there’s Mitchell, who has been one of Cohen’s biggest weapons since he arrived on campus. With a career ERA of 1.93, Mitchell is 21-5 in his past two seasons. He has been equally adept at dominating as a starter or as Cohen’s most trusted long reliever.
That’s where Mitchell sits now, straddling the line between MSU’s possible third starter in conference play and being its most dependable arm out of the bullpen.
In his career, Mitchell has made 77 appearances (13 starts). Twelve of those starts came last season, when the crafty left-hander split his time almost evenly between the bullpen and the starting rotation.
“We don’t even know who our rotation is because we have so many guys who have earned that role,” Mitchell said. “It’s really just going to be whatever the coaches think is best for the team. If you’ve watched our team, you know it can be different from one week to the next. I’m ready for anything.”
While Mitchell remains the constant on the pitching staff — he has logged a team-best 242 1/3 innings in three seasons — his usage could depend on the progression and maturation of several unproven starters.
Laster, a 5-foot-11, 190-punder left-hander who started in four of his nine games as a junior, is one of those pitchers. Laster was 0-1 with a 2.60 ERA in that stretch in 2014.
Sexton, mentioned by Cohen as “pitching really well through the fall and into the spring,” is another possibility. A 6-foot-2, 180-pound sophomore, Sexton was 2-0 in his three starts as a freshman. All of the starts were in non-conference play.
McCord, a 6-2, 200-pound freshman, has been clocked at 93 mph. He fits the physical profile of a SEC starter, and thus far, he has impressed his teammates.
“He’s a guy that has really come in and dominated,” MSU senior shortstop Seth Heck said. “He can throw multiple pitches for strikes, can really pound the strike zone. He’s going to be a great player here.”
Don’t confuse the lack of clarity regarding MSU’s starting rotation for a lack of confidence.
Cohen and pitching coach Butch Thompson felt so secure in MSU’s starting rotation that the Bulldogs were able to move former starter Trevor Fitts, who was 5-3 in 16 starts as a junior, to the bullpen, where he will take over as closer for departed All-American Jonathan Holder.
The wealth of quality arms makes it easier for Fitts to leave the starting rotation.
“We have a lot of great pitchers,” Fitts said. “I think outside observers don’t really know how good we can be there. I have full confidence they can get the job done. There’s a lot of guys up there who are going to make names for themselves this year.”
n On Saturday, Laster and Mitchell combined for six innings of one-run ball to lead the Maroon team to a 4-1 victory against the Gray team in MSU’s ninth intrasquad scrimmage of the spring. More than 2,700 fans attended the inaugural Fan Day celebration, which was followed by the six-inning exhibition at Dudy Noble Field.
Laster started and gave up one run on four hits and a walk in 2 1/3 innings. Mitchell, an All-SEC selection last spring, didn’t allow a hit in the final 3 2/3 innings.
Leadoff batter Jacob Robson and junior transfer Matt Spruill went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Freshman infielder Ryan Gridley was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run.
Robson set the table in the first with a leadoff double. After moving to third on a groundout, he scored on a wild pitch.
Gray tied the lead in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly by newcomer Luke Reynolds. Maroon took the lead for good in the third on an RBI single by Spruill.
Maroon scored two more runs in the final stanza thanks to an RBI single to right by Robson and a bases-loaded walk by Gridley.
MSU will return to action at 2 p.m. today for a scrimmage at Dudy Noble Field.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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