STARKVILLE — With over half of the Southeastern Conference schedule in the books, Mississippi State pitcher Konnor Pilkington ranked fourth in the conference in batting average allowed while pitching more innings than all but eight players in the league.
On top of that, only two pitchers in the conference had more strikeouts to their credit. For all of that, Pilkington called his year to date, “average.”
He’s feeling better after Friday night.
Pilkington, throwing at an Auburn (30-14, 12-7 SEC) ranked among the five best in the conference, threw seven innings with just four hits allowed as the Bulldogs (30-14, 14-5 SEC) beat Auburn 5-2.
The performance was a much awaited return to form for MSU’s established pitching ace, having failed to hit the seven-inning mark in every start since March 17, when MSU started conference play. In that stretch of five starts, Pilkington allowed five or more hits three times and four or more runs three times.
There was the idea that Pilkington was still recovering from that Arkansas start, where he threw 125 pitches, an idea Pilkington dismissed in two ways: first, verbally when it was posed to him, then by returning for the seventh on Friday having already thrown 107 pitches.
It was apparently an easy call.
“I thought he got through the sixth inning pretty good there, I thought his sixth inning was better than his fifth inning,” MSU coach Andy Cannizaro said. “He said he felt good, he looked like his sixth inning went well for him, and he’s our guy: when he’s out there in the sixth inning and he’s looking good and his pitch count isn’t too high, I want him to go back out there. He has earned that opportunity.”
Pilkington said the secret was going into that seventh with the confidence to throw into the strike zone and trust his work over recent weeks.
“I’m motivated everyday to be better than I was yesterday,” he said. “Going out on the mound and competing in front of 10,000 people, that should motivate you, and it does.”
Pilkington’s return to form started in dominant fashion, retiring the first nine batters he faced. Then he got some help to keep it going. The first batter Pilkington faced in the seventh singled to left field and tried to stretch it to second, but Cody Brown’s impressive throw beat him to the bag.
Pilkington, usually one of little visible emotion while pitching, gave a vibrant fist pump and point to Brown.
“I say it’s another game, and it is another game, but it’s a big game, and Cody making a play like that gets everybody fired up,” Pilkington said. “Being a pitcher, it’s just awesome to see somebody make a play like that behind you.”
Meanwhile, shortstop Ryan Gridley continued his April as the epitome of consistency.
Gridley turned the calendar from March to April on a bit of a slide, collecting just one combined hit in the two games on each side of that turn as his average went to .347. His average has barely moved since then, playing the entire month of April within a few points in either direction of that number. His 3 for 4 Friday night with a double and an RBI bumped that number up to .349.
The month will end after the conclusion of the current Auburn series and having appeared in all 16 games MSU’s played in April through Friday’s win, Gridley has hit safely in 13 of them with six multi-hit games.
The way there was not always smooth: Gridley said he worked on his hands in pregame on Friday, getting the feeling he was a bit late in the last couple of games, but he remains the picture of consistency.
“That always happens. Sometimes you’re too early and you’re susceptible to a breaking ball with two strikes, so you want to laten up,” Gridley said. “You’re always trying to make adjustments, you never feel comfortable as a hitter.”
What Cannizaro appreciates most is where he’s doing it.
“I knew I needed somebody to hit behind Brent Rooker,” he said of Gridley. “He has risen to the occasion from day one this season, he wins at-bats all the time and I love sending him to the plate with runners in scoring position.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
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