STARKVILLE — Three hours before taking the mound for his first collegiate starting pitching appearance, Jake Mangum was in the dugout with a bat in his hand, practicing his swing piece by piece.
Half an hour later, Mangum went through his usual rotation in batting practice. That’s when things went haywire.
“I had no routine. What do I do? No idea,” Mangum said. “Just ran out there, got loose and threw the ball.”
Mangum made the unique circumstance work: Mississippi State’s everyday center fielder and leadoff hitter, who prepared for sporadic relief work in the offseason, was called upon to start on the mound Tuesday and gave MSU three perfect innings. MSU (12-6) beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 11-8 in its last outing before beginning Southeastern Conference play on Friday.
“It’s a good way to end the out-of-conference schedule in terms of getting our team ready to head into SEC play this weekend when we go to Arkansas,” MSU coach Andy Cannizaro said. “We’re really looking forward to the challenge of going to Fayetteville this weekend and getting some really good SEC play.”
After taking his usual batting practice round — the first one to step in the cage — Mangum retreated to the locker room to do what he could to prepare to pitch.
That started with a hot tub session, “to loosen up a bit more,” followed by some stretching with a trainer. Mangum made his way to the bullpen 15 minutes before the game to get his arm ready to pitch.
“Loved it, it was a lot of fun,” Mangum said. “My arm’s going to be sore.”
Cannizaro told Mangum before the game it would be a short start, two or three innings, but it turned out to be the best pitching performance of the game. Of the six pitchers MSU used, Mangum was one of just two to pitch without allowing multiple hits. Spencer Price was the other, pitching to one batter and recording the final out to earn the save.
“Jake Mangum was outstanding today. He’s one of the best, most dynamic players in the country and I have so much confidence in him to be able to put him out on the mound tonight,” Cannizaro said. “Guys, he spends a fraction of his time on the mound. He’s thrown a couple of bullpens this spring, but we can put him out there because we know he’s going to compete his butt off, he’s going to be a great athlete on the field. I love having him on this team.”
While Mangum was pitching perfect baseball, MSU was building up a 9-0 lead primarily on the extra-base hit: Ryan Gridley hit a three-run home run in the first inning, Brent Rooker added an RBI double in the second and Tanner Poole hit a solo home run in the third. Dustin Skelton and Brant Blaylock also drove in runs, Skelton on an RBI single and Blaylock on a two-RBI single.
Part of the offensive barrage was the stolen base: MSU stole 10 bases, setting a school record for a single game. Rooker stole three, boosting his lead in the conference in that category. Blaylock and Luke Alexander both stole two. Gridley led the team with four RBIs while Blaylock and Skelton had two each.
MSU’s bullpen struggles struck again, bringing the sizable lead into jeopardy. Arkansas-Pine Bluff scored four in the top of the fourth and four more in the top of the ninth, at one point bringing the tying run to the plate.
Trysten Barlow started the ninth inning, recording two outs but also allowing two hits. MSU turned to Parker Ford to get the final out, but he allowed both batters he faced to get hits, thus bringing the tying run to the plate; that’s when price entered to earn the save.
Ryan Cyr pitched three scoreless innings in between the four-run surges for Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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