TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Let the gamesmanship and second-guessing begin.
The debate, at least among the Mississippi State University baseball fans, began Monday morning when the team’s name was called on the NCAA tournament regionals selection show on ESPNU: What should MSU do with ace pitcher Chris Stratton?
The question focuses on two options in the double-elimination format of the NCAA tournament’s Tallahassee Regional, which begins at 11 a.m. today when MSU plays Samford University at Florida State University’s Dick Howser Field.
MSU coach John Cohen and pitching coach Butch Thompson opted for the first option. They will go with the junior from Tupelo in an attempt to get off on the right track.
“We just feel like it’s so important to put your best foot forward to get the momentum early in the tournament,” Cohen said. “In tournament play, we just feel like you have to do everything you can to win the game in front of you and not worry about tomorrow’s game until tomorrow.”
Stratton (11-1, 2.21 ERA) registered his Southeastern Conference-leading 11th win and earned his first save to help MSU win five or six games to capture the SEC tournament championship last week at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.
The conversation between Cohen, Thompson, and Stratton began as soon as the Bulldogs (39-22) returned from Hoover and evaluated their NCAA tournament options. It became obvious that rest and stamina wouldn’t be an issue for Stratton, so it became obvious to pitch the 6-foot-4 right-hander today.
“Reason that comes to mind first is that he’ll be on normal rest and aces want the ball first in a competitive setting,” Thompson said.
Stratton ranks fourth nationally with 11 wins, fifth with 123 strikeouts, and leads the SEC with a 2.21 ERA. On Thursday, Stratton was named a first-team Louisville Slugger Division I All-American. He is one of 10 conference players or pitchers of the year named to the 17-player first unit, and is MSU’s first baseball All-American since infielder Brandon Turner and Johnny Bench Award-winning catcher Ed Easley in 2007.
“I’ll be fine with whatever the coaches feel comfortable with doing with me,” Stratton said. “But if you’re asking me do I want the ball to start this thing off? I think any pitcher worth anything would answer with ‘yes’.”
Samford will counter with right-hander Charles Basford (9-2, 3.95), its No. 2 pitcher. It will rest Josh Martin (12-1, 2.96), the nation’s wins leader.
“I don’t think anything is a surprise this time of the year,” Cohen said of Samford’s plans. “You have two things going on: Who’s your best guy, and how does that guy match up with the other team? In both cases for us, Chris Stratton seems to be the guy.”
Only six schools since 2008 (64 NCAA Regional tournaments) have rebounded from losing their opening game to win the regional. Of those six schools, only two of them weren’t hosting the regional in their ballpark.
In that same time period, only eight schools have come back to win the regional once they won the first game and lost the second game to drop to the losers’ bracket.
“It’s probably the right move because for a two-seed like Mississippi State, you can’t look past what is a really good Samford club,” Baseball America national writer Aaron Fitt said. “The mind-set really should be to win the opener, then worry about the next game when it comes.”
The other part of the strategy revolves around the fact MSU has relied on defense and pitching all season. That formula worked again at the SEC tournament. The Bulldogs received quality starting pitching and were able to use their pitching depth to get the matchups they wanted. The hope today is that Stratton can go deep into the game and help MSU preserve its bullpen for the rest of the regional.
“I like throwing Stratton in game one because usually teams that hold their ace are offensive clubs,” SEBaseball.com editor and founder Mark Etheridge said. “MSU wins with pitching and clutch hitting, so in low-scoring games, you want to go with your best.”
MSU likely will go with junior right-hander Kendall Graveman (4-4, 2.92 ERA) in its next game and hope he will be able to work through a severe groin injury that limited his effectiveness in his past two starts. If Graveman isn’t ready to go, MSU is confident it will be able to rely on
its superior bullpen depth to carry it through the regional.
Etheridge said throwing Stratton on normal rest gives MSU a chance to bring him back in a relief role on his bullpen session day if the team plays in a championship game Monday.
Last Sunday in the SEC tournament championship, Thompson suggested that Cohen go with Stratton on his bullpen day for 20-30 pitches instead of having him throw on the side.
“Since it was going to help us win a championship, I went to John and said, ‘Why not have him throw his bullpen in front of national television instead of nobody at Hoover High School?’ ” Thompson said.
No. 4 seed University of Alabama at Birmingham also will go with its ace pitcher against top-seeded FSU, while FSU and Samford will rest their top starter.
But MSU doesn’t want to limit its chances of falling into an elimination game Saturday, so it will go with Stratton.
“There’s nobody in the field except for Samford for us,” Cohen said. “I know that’s cliché, but that’s how you have to approach it.”
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