STARKVILLE — No one envies the situation Gary Henderson was given in February; his subjects envy the job he did in it.
After the Mississippi State baseball was named the 2 seed in the Tallahassee Regional Monday morning, MSU’s players praised the job their interim head coach did to get them there with a 31-25 record.
“You come home after getting swept opening weekend, it’s definitely not how you plan to start the season, and then he’s thrown into the head coaching role. What he’s done there is unbelievable,” junior center fielder Jake Mangum said. “15-15 in conference is extremely hard to do in this league. He gave us an identity is what he did. He’s done this for a long time and we have trust in him.
“From where we were as a team, February 21st to now, we’ve made great strides as a team.”
Henderson deflected the credit right back to those around him: his players and his assistant coaches.
“I think it starts with a really good group of kids, and I think just as important are the people on your coaching staff,” Henderson said. “Everybody has to come together, there has to be trust built on the fly.
“I’m very appreciative of our coaching staff here. (Assistant coach) Jake Gautreau, (assistant coach) Mike Brown, (camps coordinator/volunteer assistant) A.J. Gaura are really impressive people, worked really hard, no hidden agendas. The kids and their families, they have to jump on board: there was no shortage of short-term distraction there, you may have noticed, but they jumped on board. I appreciate them a great deal.”
Injury update
No matter what happens in Tallahassee, MSU will play two games. All season long, sophomore southpaw Ethan Small has been handling the second game of a weekend for the Bulldogs, but that streak is in jeopardy: Small developed a blister in his last start against Florida and it popped, leaving his pants bloodied after he pitched 4 1/3 innings.
“He was fine on Saturday and Sunday, no real issues at all and told me he felt fine, so that was good,” Henderson said. “You can’t predict those things, as much as we’d like to. They come and go, they have a life of their own, but I’m encouraged by where Ethan is right now.”
MSU’s early exit from the Southeastern Conference tournament may have helped Small in this case, given he was not called to pitch and therefore he will go at least two weeks in between starts.
Henderson is anticipating usual Friday night starter Konnor Pilkington to start the first game of the regional, against Oklahoma (36-23) 11 a.m. Friday (ESPNU), but did not want to make that official until Pilkington’s throwing session Tuesday.
The status of freshman third baseman Jordan Westburg is also to be determined, as Henderson said his hamstring injury from the Florida series has kept him from, “full strength in practice.” MSU was alternating Westburg and Foscue at third base; Foscue has taken over in Westburg’s absence, starting the last two games with two hits and four RBI.
The week that’s been
The early exit from the SEC tournament has granted the Bulldogs the opportunity to rest, and one they took full advantage of.
Mangum said MSU had two off days immediately following its Tuesday loss to LSU before taking on some light individual work and two six-inning intrasquad scrimmages over the weekend.
“I think the kids were pleased with themselves in terms of this late in the year, when you don’t play for another week to go out and have a really quality practice, sometimes can be elusive,” Henderson said. “Our guys did a great job, I was really pleased with it.”
It’s just what MSU needed for the postseason.
“Bodies feel great and we’re ready to go,” Mangum said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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