STARKVILLE — Brent Rooker never doubts his team.
That’s the mind-set for the entire Mississippi State baseball team. That wasn’t the case last season when the Bulldogs finished 24-30 and missed the postseason.
But the Bulldogs aren’t doubting themselves this season. That was the case last weekend when MSU bounced back from a Friday night loss to win the next two games against then-No. 1 Florida in their Southeastern Conference series in Gainesville, Florida.
“That’s the good thing about this team, you lose a game and there’s no need for like a big rah rah pump up speech,” Rooker said. “We lose a game and everybody still knows we’re really good. We’ve got as good of players as anybody in the country, and we’ve got as much competitiveness as anybody in the country.”
No. 2 MSU (23-9-1) will try to build on that momentum at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (SEC Network+) when it plays host to Memphis (12-19). MSU then will re-focus on SEC action against No. 4 Texas A&M (25-7, 7-5 SEC) Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in a matchup between the top two teams in the SEC Western Division.
MSU felt good about Friday’s game with junior right-hander Dakota Hudson on the mound, but he lasted five innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits in an 8-2 loss.
The Bulldogs didn’t react like a team that lost Game 1 with their best pitcher. MSU won 10-4 Saturday and 2-1 Sunday to take the series and run its SEC record to 8-4, tying last season’s SEC win total.
On Saturday, junior outfielder Cody Brown hit a grand slam and sophomore right-hander Ryan Rigby gave up one run on four hits in five innings in relief. On Sunday, sophomore infielder Ryan Gridley hit a home run and Konnor Pilkington, Zac Houston, and Reid Humphreys shut down the Gators.
“I think it speaks volumes about this team,” Brown said. We’ve got plenty of guys that can go out there and get it done. The way we rallied in the second two games of that series just really speaks a lot about this team about how we can bounce back.”
The Bulldogs won the series without captain and center fielder Jacob Robson. The junior missed all four games last week with a hand injury. In his absence, Jake Mangum hit .556 (10-for-18) and had three RBIs and scored three runs. His performance earned him SEC Freshman of the Week honors. Mangum leads MSU with a .437 batting average.
The depth of the roster has been a key to the Bulldogs’ success.
“The best thing about our team is we’ve got 35 guys on our roster who are completely selfless and who are completely sold out for this team and are willing to do anything it takes to win and go far in the postseason and win a national championship, which is what we’re out here to do,” Rooker said.
The sophomore captain, who is batting .340 with 25 RBIs, has been in out of the lineup because of the depth, but he said he is fine with that because the team is winning and his teammates are easy to get along with. He said he never has been around a group that has as much fun playing baseball together than this team.
Even though Rooker said the excitement in the dugout and clubhouse is hard to explain to outsiders, junior college transfer Nathaniel Lowe said it’s pretty simple.
“It’s so much fun,” Lowe said. “Getting to the ballpark every day, practice day, game day, it’s fun because we know we have a chance to win a national title.”
MSU, which also has taken series from Vanderbilt, Georgia, and Ole Miss, has won its first four SEC series for the first time since 1988. The Bulldogs have moved up in the polls the last few weeks, but couldn’t capture No. 1 after beating the top team in the country. The Bulldogs are No. 2 in the Baseball America and D1Baseball.com polls, No. 3 in the Perfect Game poll, No. 4 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll, No. 5 in the Collegiate Baseball poll, and No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
Lowe, who is batting .323 with 23 RBIs, said the Bulldogs understand the midweek losses have held them back in the polls and called it the “elephant in the room.” He said losses to Eastern Kentucky and Oral Roberts have put things in perspective.
“I think we just kind of keep that in our rear-view (mirror) now when we play,” Lowe said. “We realize that any day we could lose to anybody anytime we step out there. We also realize we can beat anybody in the country.”
MSU is 11-4 since those losses.
With six SEC series remaining, MSU’s top-five matchup on Super Bulldog Weekend at Dudy Noble Field will catch the attention of college baseball fans. MSU is ready for the opportunity.
“Every day we take the field I feel like we’re going to win 100 percent,” Brown said. “We know what we’re capable of, we know what we can do. We’ve got a tough rest of the way. No doubt about it.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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