STARKVILLE — Ryan Rigby didn’t need two years at a junior college to get to the next level.
Going from Kosciusko High School to East Mississippi Community College, the right-hander found a niche as a sidearm pitcher. He attracted the attention of several Division I and Southeastern Conference schools and then picked Mississippi State.
Rigby has delivered on that potential and has emerged as a key member of No. 2 MSU’s bullpen. The sophomore is 4-1 with a 1.23 ERA, second lowest on the team. He has allowed four runs (three earned) on 15 hits, and has struck out 23 and walked five.
Rigby could have a chance to build on those numbers this weekend when No. 2 MSU (24-9-1, 8-4 SEC) plays host to No. 4 Texas A&M (26-7, 7-5) in a three-game weekend series between the top two teams in the SEC Western Division at Dudy Noble Field. As part of Super Bulldog Weekend, Game 1 will be at 6:30 p.m. today. Game 2 will be at 2 p.m. Saturday. Game 3 will be at 1:30 p.m. All three games can be seen on SEC Network+.
“It prepared me,” Rigby said of EMCC. “It definitely got me on the right track to get to D I. My pitching coach (at EMCC), coach (Anthony) Izzio, he payed a big role. He kind of taught me to throw sidearm. I’ve never had anybody teach me that. He threw sidearm in college as well, so that was kind of a good coach for me.”
Izzio played at Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. before transferring to South Alabama, where he struck out 67 and walked 23 in 20 career appearances.
Rigby said he used a sidearm delivery maybe five times in high school, but he never thought he would go full-time to the delivery.
But with the help of Izzio and former Bulldog pitching coach Butch Thompson, Rigby began to develop as a sidearm pitcher.
“It was a big difference when I first started doing it,” Rigby said. “I wasn’t used to the run and I would hit a lot of people because it would run so much. Once I got to know where to start the pitch I kind of got the hang of it.”
Rigby had a team-low 0.90 ERA for the Lions in 30 innings last season. He allowed three earned runs and went 3-1 with five saves and 24 strikeouts in 17 appearances.
MSU coach John Cohen called Rigby “an unbelievable competitor” and said he has one pitch that can neutralize batters.
“A really heavy, sinking fastball with velocity,” Cohen said. “He can throw that thing 88-92 miles an hour and the bottom drops out of it. You throw in the fact he’s got a really good slider that he throws sparingly, it just puts that in the back of mind of hitters. He’s been phenomenal.”
Fans first took notice of Rigby after he pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed no runs and no hits to pick up the win against Vanderbilt in the series opener in Nashville, Tennessee. With the game tied at 1 in the 11th inning, he came in with runners on second and third and walked the first batter he faced, but he struck out the next batter to leave the bases loaded.
On Saturday against then-No. 1 Florida, Rigby was summoned with the bases loaded and no outs in the fifth inning. His teammates saw a determination in his eyes when he stepped on the mound.
“You’re like, ‘Wow, no one’s going to hit his stuff,’ ” MSU third baseman Gavin Collins said. “You believe right when he gets there. His demeanor just says, ‘Nope, game over.’ He’s picked us up tremendously when it’s been a close game.”
Rigby, who was told by pitching coach Wes Johnson to induce a double play ball, got a 1-2-3 double play and a strikeout to get out of the jam and propel MSU to a 10-4 win. He pitched five innings and gave up one run on four hits. He struck out four and walked one.
“That gave me a lot of confidence,” Rigby said. “I pretty much listened to him and trusted the sink in my fastball.”
Rigby, who cheered for Ole Miss football when he was little, really liked MSU baseball growing up, but he received interest from Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, and Southern Mississippi at EMCC. He said it was always his goal to play at MSU,but he decided to listen to every school. In the end, what Thompson had done with the Bulldog pitchers won out. Rigby said his development as a sidearm pitcher continued under Thompson, who held sidearm camps and transformed the likes of Chad Girodo and Jacob Lindgren while at MSU.
But Thompson left last fall to take over the Auburn program. Although Johnson, who was an assistant coach at Dallas Baptist, had good credentials, the pitchers were a little skeptical.
“We thought it was going to be difficult, but coach Johnson came in with a lot of energy and a lot of faith in us,” Rigby said. “He didn’t really know what he was getting into, but he came in and has done a great job. Everybody respected him right off the bat.”
MSU will stick with the same weekend rotation of junior right-hander Dakota Hudson (4-2, 1.68 ERA) today and junior right-hander Austin Sexton (3-1, 3.28) on Saturday. Sunday’s starter has yet to be determined, but freshman left-hander Konnor Pilkington (1-0, 0.89) started last Sunday. Texas A&M will go with sophomore right-hander Brigham Hill (4-0, 1.42) today, sophomore right-hander Jace Vines (5-0, 3.77) on Saturday, and senior right-hander Kyle Simonds (6-1, 3.35) on Sunday.
Rigby is ready to experience his first Super Bulldog Weekend. He also is thankful it is happening one year ahead of schedule.
“Coming from East Mississippi was a big change,” Rigby said. “There’s a lot more competitiveness up here, but I feel like coach Johnson and coach Cohen got me ready for this level. I just go out there and try to throw strike one and let my defense do their work behind me.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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