STARKVILLE — There were times last season Ryan Gridley grew accustomed to daily change.
Mississippi State’s shortstop bounced around in the lineup as a sophomore, but Gridley is delivering as a No. 3 hitter this season. In 17 at-bats, Gridley had 13 hits, five RBIs, one double, one home run, and stole four bases in a 3-1 weekend that saw MSU beat Indiana State 11-6 Friday and 9-1 Saturday and beat Marist 12-4 Saturday before losing to Marist 9-8 Sunday.
“Since I’ve been here, Gridley has given us great at-bats every single day,” Cannizaro said. “He wasn’t bad last weekend. He still had four or five hits. I just thought his swing was a little big, he was a little amped up with some extra adrenaline. I don’t think it was anything he was trying to do.”
While Gridley didn’t mind moving around in the lineup last season, he enjoys hitting in the No. 3 hole in front of Brent Rooker.
“I feel like I get a lot of good pitches to hit because they don’t want to pitch to him, so they might as well pitch to me,” Gridley said.
Mangum’s hitting streak
In going 8-for-16 over the weekend, center fielder Jake Mangum bumped his career-long hitting streak to 22 dating back to last season.
Brown getting in lineup
After only starting at first base entering the weekend, Cody Brown started at first and second base. Brown reached base three times Saturday and drove in four runs in the 9-1 victory against Indiana State.
Cannizaro could continue to play Brown at different positions to find a way to get him in the lineup.
“Whether it’s first base, second base, if he has to go to the outfield or (designated hitter), he’s going to give you a competitive at-bat every single time he goes up there,” Cannizaro said.
Injury update
Cannizaro said Thursday before practice to expect junior Harrison Bragg to see time in the infield while MSU coped without second baseman Hunter Stovall. Shortly after that, Bragg had an injury scare.
Cannizaro said Bragg sat out the weekend with a concussion after taking a ground ball to the temple Thursday that “almost knocked him out cold on the field.”
Cannizaro said it was “certainly the best thing for him medically” to sit out the weekend, but he hopes Bragg will be able to practice so he can play next weekend at Oregon.
Stovall flew out in a pinch-hitting role in the loss to Marist in his only appearance of the weekend. Stovall was the team’s leader in batting average entering the weekend, but he left the loss to Morehead State with a hamstring injury.
Cannizaro said he had hoped to get through the weekend without using Stovall, but he hopes treatment throughout the week will have him ready to return to the starting lineup at second base against Oregon.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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