HOOVER, Ala. — Andy Cannizaro had plenty of choices.
With four players for three spots in the lineup, Mississippi State’s baseball coach thought defense was what his team needed with ace Konnor Pilkington on the mound in an elimination game at the Southeastern Conference tournament.
“Tanner Poole has been one of our best defensive players all year long, and I think he plays right field better than anybody in the league,” he said.
Poole’s spot in right field came open when Cannizaro moved Cody Brown from left field to third base in place of Luke Alexander and moved Elijah MacNamee from right field to left field. The shuffling came in No. 18 and fifth-seeded MSU’s 3-0 victory against Georgia that helped it advance to the double-elimination portion of the event to face No. 13 and fourth-seeded Arkansas at 9:30 a.m. today.
In the last week of the regular season, Cannizaro opted to go with MacNamee in right field in part because MacNamee was hitting .268 and Poole was hitting .232. Poole had one at-bat against Troy on May 16 and played in one of the three games of the LSU series.
Against Georgia, Cannizaro replaced Alexander, who is 2-for-25 (.080) in his last eight games and has seen his average drop to .223. Alexander’s average was above .300 through the first weekend of SEC play and around .270 through in March.
Rooker closes in on triple crown
With three hits — one of them a home run — and two RBIs, MSU first baseman Brent Rooker moved closer to becoming the first Bulldog to win the SEC triple crown since Rafael Palmeiro.
“The same approach,” Rooker said of his two-run home run in the first inning, “just hunting a fastball in the zone and tried not to miss it when I got it.”
Rooker’s batting average jumped from .415 to .423, widening the gap between him and Auburn’s Jonah Todd and Kentucky’s Evan White, who are hitting .385. Rooker’s home run was his 21st. No one in the conference started he day with more than 17. His two RBIs bumped him up to 73. No one in the conference had more than 65 to start the day.
Missed opportunities
MSU left 12 runners on base, including seven in the final four innings. MSU left the bases loaded in the fifth and two on in the eighth leading 3-0 lead.
Another shot at Arkansas
MSU will face Arkansas for the first time since the Razorbacks swept their three-game series in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on March 17-19 that opened the SEC regular season.
“We like to think we’re a better team than we were the last time we faced Arkansas,” Rooker said. “That was our first SEC series, a lot of our guys’ first taste of what the league is like, especially on the road in the environment they have in Baum Stadium, which is one of the coolest in the SEC.”
In the 10 weeks since MSU has seen Arkansas, the Razorbacks have become one of the best hitting teams in the conference. Arkansas leads the conference with 70 home runs, is in second in slugging percentage (.448), and third in batting (.285).
Cannizaro’s formula for staying away from that power is simple.
“We have to do is stay ahead in the count,” he said. “You have to stay ahead in the count so you don’t fall into fastball-predictable counts.”
Denver McQuary will start on the mound for the Bulldogs. He pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen against Arkansas in Game 2 of the series, a 5-4 loss. It will be McQuary’s fourth appearance as a member of the weekend rotation.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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