STARKVILLE — Mississippi state sophomore pitcher Eric Cerantola stepped off the rubber and took a deep breath of the cool, February air.
For months, the images of last season’s disastrous midweek outings in which Cerantola walked 11 batters in 14 2/3 innings — five of whom were hit by pitches — raced through his head.
But instead of spiraling as he had so many times a year ago, the 6-foot-5 inch right hander remained calm and collected, striking out eight batters in four innings of work as he guided MSU to a 5-1 win and series sweep of Wright State Sunday at Dudy Noble Field.
“I was just thinking about the next pitch. Coach (Scott Foxhall) always tells me ‘Hey the last pitch doesn’t matter, it’s already done.’ So I just went out there and tried filling it up and I know I have a good (defense) behind me.”
While Cerantola’s three pitch mix of fastball, changeup and curveball fooled Wright State’s lineup down the stretch, it took coaxing from catcher Logan Tanner and pitching coach Scott Foxhall to keep the hard-throwing Canadian in check.
As Cerantola wallowed off the mound after allowing the first two batters he faced reach base on a walk and single before retiring the next three Raiders, Tanner leapt from his stance and ran toward his battery-mate. Reaching the emblazoned Mississippi State logo painted on the turf just outside the dugout, he offered Cerantola a reassuring knuckle bump and a pat on the back as they headed for the MSU bench.
One inning later, Foxhall strolled out of the Bulldogs’ dugout after Cerantola had loaded the bases with no outs in the third inning.
After a short meeting on the mound between the pair and Tanner, Cerantola returned to his dominant form. His first out came on a lineout from Wright State’s Tyler Black to MSU junior second baseman Justin Foscue. A strikeout of Raider cleanup hitter Zane Harris followed. One batter later, Cerantola delivered a devastating 84 mile per hour curveball on a 1-2 count for a swinging strikeout of designated hitter Alex Neff.
Leaping off the mound as his pitch met the leather in Tanner’s mitt, Cerantola flexed his core and let out a fiery “Yeah!” The 8,173 fans in attendance roared in approval.
“Probably going to need some TUMS during some of those innings,” coach Chris Lemonis joked of watching Cerantola Sunday. “But we knew we were going to get that and that’s part of his progress and his growth is just learning how to manage innings and command, but he was really good today.”
“Last year he just tried to do too much,” Lemonis continued. “This year, he gets it, he’s been there, he’s able to slow it down a little bit more and make some pitches.”
While Cerantola backed up redshirt freshman Christian MacLeod’s dominant 11 strikeout performance Saturday with a gem of his own, it was a quiet day at the dish for the MSU batting order as they notched five runs on seven hits Sunday.
Freshman third baseman Kamren James continued his recent tear to open the season, earning a two RBI single in the bottom of the third to give MSU a three-run lead.
Now three games into his MSU career, James is 5-for-11 with four RBIs and recorded four assists and two putouts as the Bulldogs’ starting third baseman — a role he earned after a preseason competition with sophomore Landon Jordan.
“It gives me a ton (of confidence),” he said of finding a groove on opening weekend. ” I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous my first at bat. (To) get that first hit out of the way, have those first few games — it’s definitely huge for my confidence and makes me feel like maybe I can belong here.”
“Some of the things with Kam you don’t realize is he made some great plays on the weekend,” Lemonis added of James’ fielding. “Usually freshman struggle defensively and he runs out there with a lot of poise at third (base).”
Junior shortstop Jordan Westburg also aid to his early season RBI tally when he brought junior centerfielder Rowdey Jordan home from second with a third-inning single up the middle.
With the win, MSU’s starting pitchers — MacLeod, Cerantola and sophomore JT Ginn — concluded the weekend with a combined 23 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched, allowing just two runs on six hits.
“Before the game that was the best I’ve felt this year,” Cerantola said. “So it felt really good. I had some goods and some bads (in 2019). I learned a lot from last year so I was excited.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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