STARKVILLE — The new leader of the Mississippi State University baseball program is a junior college transfer that just arrived on campus in August.
Mitch Slauter has earned the controls of the Bulldogs (2-1) defense and pitching staff after both starting catchers from last season graduated leaving a perceived hole in a critical element to MSU’s success under coach John Cohen.
“Mitch Slauter is a big, physical presence behind the plate that blocks well, leads and he’s going to be an offensive threat,” Cohen said. “I admire how hard he’s worked to learn our pitching staff in a short amount of time.”
Slauter is the epitome of what it takes mentally and emotionally to play for Cohen and the MSU staff as he is a self-described non-stop student of the game that hopes to become a coach at some level after he tries professional baseball.
“I eat and sleep baseball,” Slauter said. “I’ll lay in bed at night and be thinking about practice and games wondering what I can do better. I try to get to the facility super early. For the coaches, this game is on their minds everyday. That’s their job. I would love doing that.”
Slauter, a former First-team all-conference and all-region catcher at
Barton (Kans.) Community College who was honored as the Jayhawk
Community College Conference Defensive Player of the Year, began to go to class the minute he arrived on the Starkville campus and it had nothing to do with academic classes starting.
Slauter, who is on academic aid but receives no athletic scholarship money to be at MSU, had to know each pitcher in and out before fall baseball practices start in order to properly work them in bullpen sessions along with learning the MSU signs while maintaining his own offensive consistencies.
“The one thing that I try to do is bring the intensity to the ballpark,” Slauter said. “I try to get loud and get intense to get in other people’s heads. Coach Cohen instills hard work in you. That’s what got me here and the way that feels the best for me. The way he coaches fits the kind of player I am.”
In what all parties call ‘the triangle,’ Slauter is one-third of the combination that will likely lead MSU as far as they wish to go as a squad during the 2012 campaign — the pitching. The three-part system includes information and feedback from MSU pitching coach Butch Thompson, Slauter and the pitchers themselves.
“I work out so well with Coach Thompson so we communicate about everything that goes on between the pitchers,” Slauter said. “I communicate with all the pitchers and make sure I understand what their needs are from me. I’d like for Coach Thompson to not have to waste a visit coming out to the mound if I can make a minor adjustment for one of them.”
Last season it got to the point Thompson would hand over the pitch calling duties to last year’s catcher Wes Thigpen — a co-captain on the squad that reached the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional.
“I really wasn’t sure how in the world we were going to replace Wes Thigpen but Mitch Slauter has been more than impressive,” senior All-American reliever Caleb Reed said. “I trust him and obviously Coach Thompson completely when I’m out on the mound.”
Judging by the opening weekend where Slauter caught all three games allowing pitchers Chris Stratton, Kendall Graveman and Ben Bracewell to have excellent returns to the mound to start 2012.
“I don’t think there’s a better catcher I could have on the planet than Mitch Slauter, said Stratton after he tossed four innings of shutout relief last weekend.
Slauter is likely to be the catcher for over 50 games this season and at least two of the three games in a weekend against Southeastern Conference opponent.
“He’s going to be a great player but he’s going to be in the Southeastern Conference for the first time,” Cohen said.
“The good news is we have as much depth behind the plate as we’ve had in a while.”
It could be an intimidating spot for somebody to be in when the likely strength of the MSU team will be on the mound with senior leaders like Reed and left-handed starters Nick Routt.
“I just came in to a very accepting group of guys,” Slauter said. “Everything and a big part of the team is our pitching staff. My duties are to take care of them. I’m never worried about myself. I need to worry about them and what’s best for them.”
Slauter will have his parents Tresa and Darryl Slauter along with a grandparent and other family friends supporting him in their first ever series at Dudy Noble Field this weekend when MSU plays four games in three games, starting with a 6:30 p.m. contest today against his home state school, Kansas University.
Slauter said it will be likely a 10-hour drive for his family to watch him play after he chose MSU over scholarship offers from a host of Big 12 Conference schools including the Jayhawks program.
“It was meant for me to be here,” Slauter said. “My parents wanted what was best for me. They’re very supportive of what Mississippi State baseball is. They wanted what was best for me.”
The six-game, three-day event gets started earlier in the day Friday when Kansas squares off against the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils at 2:30 p.m.
State plays twice on Saturday (12 p.m./4 p.m.) and in the weekend finale Sunday (4 p.m.).
Sophomore right-hander Ben Bracewell (0-0, 0.00), MSU’s opening-day starter last weekend against Washington State, will make his second career start in tonight’s opener against Kansas. The Jayhawks have tabbed freshman lefty Wes Benjamin (1-0, 1.29) for today’s game-opening mound duty.
Kansas, in the midst of a 10-game season-opening road run, allowed just four runs last weekend in sweeping past Middle Tennessee State (7-3), Bowling Green (3-1) and Belmont (2-0) during a trip to Tennessee. Junior shortstop Kevin Kuntz went 5-for-10 to pace the Jayhawks offense.
Mississippi Valley State, after dropping an 11-2 decision Tuesday at Delta State, is making the first of two trips to Starkville for 2012.
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