STARKVILLE — Taking two out of three from Vanderbilt has really invigorated the Mississippi State baseball team.
Nashville, Tennessee, is not an easy place to win with the way the Commodores have played in the last few years, but the Bulldogs got great pitching performances and did enough offensively to take their first Southeastern Conference series.
MSU wasn’t lacking confidence beforehand, but the wins only solidified that fact. MSU hopes to carry the momentum over as it plays host to Georgia 6:30 p.m. today, 6:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. All three games can be seen on SEC Network+.
“I’ve said this in the past and I’m going to keep saying it: our confidence is super high,” MSU junior Jacob Robson said. “We’re really excited for this weekend. We’re excited to get some wins.”
No. 10 MSU (15-6-1, 2-1 SEC) has won three of its last four games, including a 16-1 victory over Mississippi Valley State Tuesday. Georgia (14-8, 1-2) has lost three in a row, including the final two games to Kentucky over the weekend and Mercer Tuesday.
Before the series victory at Vanderbilt, MSU lost to Eastern Kentucky and Oral Roberts in the midweek, but it shook the losses off and took a rare SEC road series.
Even with the confidence gained, MSU coach John Cohen doesn’t want his team to take Georgia lightly.
“They’re very, very talented, they’re very left-handed heavy with their lineup and they can run,” Cohen said. “They had a tough series with Kentucky, but certainly they could have won two out three in that series.
“It’s SEC baseball. Everybody that rolls into here or wherever we go, they’re going to be very capable of not just beating you, they can get some momentum going. We’ve got to be ready to play baseball.”
MSU took three of four from Georgia in 2014, including the weekend series in Athens and a 10-inning thriller in the first round of the SEC tournament.
The short week doesn’t change Cohen’s pitching rotation. Junior right-hander Dakota Hudson (2-1, 1.38 ERA), the reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week, will throw today, while junior right-hander Austin Sexton (2-1, 4.15) will throw Friday. Saturday’s starter has yet to be announced, but junior left-hander Daniel Brown (2-1, 4.24) got the start in the Vanderbilt finale.
Hudson threw nine innings and 126 pitches in a 2-1 13-inning win last Friday, but Cohen isn’t worried about the short week for Hudson’s recovery.
“In the course of the summer in the Cape (Cape Cod League), he was pitching on five days (rest) a lot,” Cohen said. “I think he’s in a good place. He had a great bullpen (Monday), really threw the ball well, so I think he’s in a great place to do this.”
Georgia will keep junior right-handed ace Robert Tyler (2-1, 3.42) on Friday and throw freshman left-hander Kevin Smith (3-0, 1.93) today. Saturday’s starter has not been announced.
The performances by Hudson and Sexton have given the offense confidence and has kept MSU in an offensive mind-set.
“It’s a huge deal having those guys,” Robson said. “Sexton and Dakota are both phenomenal pitchers to have. It’s great to be behind them in the field. We get in and out of the dugout quickly and we can stay in an offensive mind even when we’re on the field.”
MSU left 16 men on Friday against Vanderbilt, but Cole Gordon delivered with an RBI single in the 13th to help MSU win. Against Vanderbilt, MSU had 13 runs on 28 hits, and although it wasn’t the best offensive performance, it was timing of the offense that Robson was happy with.
“They had a great pitching staff, probably one of the best pitching staffs were going to face all year, so we proved that we can hit those guys and we can hit anybody else,” Robson said.
MSU is hitting .311, with eight players hitting over .300 including Jake Mangum’s team-best .448 and Robson’s .361 batting average.
MSU’s series win over Vanderbilt may have set the tone as SEC play gets into full swing.
“It’s a huge deal knowing that we came off that weekend with two wins going into the rest of SEC play,” Robson said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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