STARKVILLE — The final scoreboard didn’t seem to please Mississippi State University baseball coach John Cohen in the least.
The very board in right center field at Dudy Noble Field did say the Bulldogs (17-9) defeated Alcorn State University (6-18) 6-2 in a midweek contest but the lack of effort and focus made the MSU fourth-year coach angry.
“We don’t play well tonight (and) it showed,” Cohen said. “We had four situational things that we did not handle well and looked shocked they were happening.”
A dropped foul pop-up behind home plate and a dropped fly ball in center field by sophomore Hunter Renfroe was the theme for the lazy attitude against the Southwestern Athletic Conference opponent.
“We got to get these things mixed because you can’t play good defense on the weekends then expect to just survive during the week if you don’t do the same,” Cohen said. “You get them in the locker room and threaten them with what can happen and you talk about all the little things and that happens.”
The Bulldogs, who have struggled with youth and injuries in the everyday lineup, produced only seven hits and just four against Alcorn State starting pitcher Cedric Pomerlee.
Pomerlee (0-2) was able to fool MSU hitters with a 76-78 miles-per-hour fastball after the Bulldogs had seen 93-95 miles-per-hour heat this past weekend against the University of Arkansas.
“We should crush guys like that,” MSU first baseman Wes Rea said. “Good teams make the adjustments and we did at times but it’s something we have to improve on now.”
MSU sophomore shortstop Adam Frazier got on base in each of his five plate appearances Tuesday evening with four walks and scored the first two runs of the game.
“Adam Frazier showed up tonight and said ‘hey, watch this’,” Cohen said. “I’m going to walk, steal bases, wreak havoc on the bases…that’s what we need nine guys to do. That’s what we need from seniors and juniors and he’s such a wily old veteran as a sophomore.”
In a confidence-builder for freshman right-hander Will Cox, the former Amory High School star struck out six in three innings after giving up three runs in his last three appearances.
“It helped a lot because it doesn’t really matter the team,” Cox said. “Anybody is going to come out and compete. I was so glad to get back in the zone of getting ground balls for outs.”
After suffering through an 0-for-10 weekend against Arkansas, freshman outfielder Tyler Fullerton provided an RBI-double into the left centerfield gap to give the Bulldogs a much-needed four-run cushion.
MSU will now prepare for another Southeastern Conference weekend away from Starkville as they travel to Auburn. The Tigers (15-9, 4-2) stand one game behind Arkansas for the Western Division lead. Auburn lost Tuesday night at Samford 8-5 on a grand slam, walk-off home run by centerfielder Phillip Ervin. The series at Auburn will begin Friday with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
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