STARKVILLE – It’s a common belief among Mississippi State fans that the Bulldogs will go as far in the NCAA baseball playoffs as their senior outfielder will take them.
Is it heresy to ask which one?
For if center fielder Jake Mangum is the engine that makes the Bulldogs run, it is the MSU’s “other” senior outfielder, right fielder Elijah MacNamee, who is the fuel.
MacNamee, who returned to the lineup Friday after a seven-game absence, provided a bit of the “Mac Magic” that has become his post-season forte, ripping a two-run double to right field in his first plate appearance Saturday, the first runs in what would wind up a 7-2 win over third-seeded Central Michigan in the Starkville Regional.
MSU is now a win away from advancing to a super regional it would also host next weekend. State plays the winner of today’s 2 p.m. loser’s bracket game between Central Michigan and Miami tonight at 8.
With Mangum, the Southeastern Conference’s all-time hits leader, mired in an improbable batting slump (he went 0-for-5 Saturday and is hitless in his last 15 at-bats), MacNamee’s return was just the boost the Bulldogs needed. MSU had gone 4-3 in his absence.
“Those two weeks I was out, I didn’t look at it negatively,” MacNamee said. “I sat back and enjoyed my team doing what they do. So, getting that first knock was awesome, but more than that, it’ s just getting the opportunity to help my team win.”
Even after an 0-for-5 showing Friday in his return, MacNamee is a comforting presence in the lineup.
“He’s a veteran guy and has a lot of confidence,” Bulldog shortstop Jordan Westburg said. “Having him back is huge for us.”
It was this time last year that MacNamee went from being a solid contributor (he was fourth in hitting on the team) to something approaching “Mr. June.” Three-run walk-off homers in the regional and super-regional rounds carried the Bulldogs to their magical run to the College World Series. In those eight games, he batted 30 points above his average, hit five homers (he had hit just 3 in the regular season) and drove in 13 runs.
So, even though he slipped to sixth on the club in batting this season, MacNamee’s penchant for rising to the occasion is a huge psychological boost.
MacNamee went 2-for-5 Saturday, but numbers don’t always tell the story of a player, and this is especially true of MacNamee.
He’s one of those players that coaches covet, but can’t exactly scout for – at his best when the stakes are highest, better with men on base than with the bases empty, better when the team is behind and clawing back than ahead and cruising.
“Big Hit Mac,” his teammates call him.
Even on his hitless Friday, Bulldogs coach Chris Lemonis liked what he saw. He still drove in one run and reached base twice, once on a walk and another on a hit-by-pitch.
“That’s what he does,” Lemonis said. “He’s a very pure hitter, but he also has a great eye. He’s got a great on-base percentage. He’s a guy that keeps the line-up moving along, even when he doesn’t get a hit. He’ll get a walk or move a runner over. Those things. When he was out, we had to shuffle some things around a little bit. It’s nice to have him back.”
The Bulldogs looked very comfortable at the beginning of the game Saturday, batting around in the first inning. MacNamee was, of course, in the middle of it, slashing a double down the right-field line to push across the first two runs in a four-run top of the first.
It was odd game for the Bulldogs’ offense, which racked up 13 hits and six runs through three innings, but was held to three hits and a single run (on Tanner Allen’s homer in the ninth) the rest of the way.
Perhaps no one was happier to see MacNamee’s return than Allen, who bats third in the lineup ahead of MacNamee.
“When you have a guy like Mac hitting behind you, you know you’re going to have pitches to hit,” Allen said. “It’s great to have him back.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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