STARKVILLE — Starting pitching has been a moving target for the Mississippi State baseball team through its non-conference schedule.
On most weekends, MSU coach Andy Cannizaro went into Fridays without announced plans for at least one slot in the rotation. This weekend, he ended Friday night with three games scheduled in the next two days and one starting pitcher decision made. The scheduling shuffle has been indicative of MSU’s struggles to find production and length on the mound.
That dilemma applies to everything but Friday nights.
MSU has no doubt who it will send to the mound in the opening game of every series: Konnor Pilkington. The sophomore left-hander continued his sensational season with a 7 2/3-inning outing Friday night, striking out a career-high 13 in a 2-0 victory against South Alabama at Dudy Noble Field.
“I’m so fired up and so glad that guy is on our team,” Cannizaro said. “He’s our Friday-night guy. He’s going to be our Friday-night guy for the rest of this year, the rest of next year. He’s going to be a gigantic pick in the Major League draft two years from now.”
MSU was scheduled to play two games Saturday, one against Columbia and a rematch against South Alabama, but both were rained out. MSU (8-6) will play Columbia at 11 a.m. today and South Alabama at 2 p.m. Columbia is scheduled to stay in Starkville for an extra day to play MSU at 1 p.m. Monday.
Beyond a rough Opening Day outing — logging 10 outs while allowing five runs to current No. 14 Texas Tech — Pilkington has allowed one run in his last three starts in 22 2/3 innings. Pilkington has surrendered only 13 hits and six walks and struck out 26 in that span.
Pilkington leads the conference with 33 strikeouts in four starts. The secret for his 13 strikeouts Friday was his fastball.
“I think I was mixing up real good, putting the fastball on both sides of the plate, two-seam down and in to lefties and four seam away on lefties,” said Pilkington, who walked two and allowed four hits against the Jaguars. “(I was) moving the fastball back and forth and sneaking a curveball in there when I needed to.”
Only eight balls left the infield against Pilkington, and five of those caught by outfielders four outs. One of the hardest hit balls was hit by former New Hope High School standout Wells Davis, who flew out to the warning track in right field in the fourth inning.
Davis singled off Pilkington in his next at-bat, leading off the seventh.
“I threw the changeup one time tonight and he almost knocked it over the left-field fence,” Pilkington said of Davis’ fourth fly out.
Davis’ single in the seventh was the last of three times Pilkington allowed a leadoff single. All three times, he retired three straight after the single to end the inning.
“On to the next batter,” Pilkington said of his strategy for shaking off such hits. “Take it pitch by pitch, hitter by hitter.”
Pilkington said the only thing he notices about pitching after a leadoff single is going from the windup to the stretch.
Pilkington’s next start is set for March 17, which will be MSU’s Southeastern Conference debut at Arkansas. The Razorbacks ended Friday with 21 home runs. No other SEC team had 15.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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