STARKVILLE — After sweeping a top-15 opponent, the Mississippi State baseball team doesn’t have much time to celebrate.
MSU beat then-No. 11 Oregon three times last weekend to cap a 4-0 week. The sweep was one of the best series wins in the country and catapulted MSU nine spots to No. 15 in the latest Baseball America poll prior to the start of Southeastern Conference play.
But two midweek games mean the Bulldogs have to move on from the sweep. At 6:30 tonight (SEC Network +), No. 15 MSU (12-3-1) will play host to Eastern Kentucky (7-8). At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (SEC Network +), MSU will take on Oral Roberts (7-7). Both games will be at Dudy Noble Field.
“In our sport, you just don’t have time to think of it that way,” MSU coach John Cohen said. “I think our kids want to play during spring break. You don’t want to spend the whole time practicing, you want to play, and I think they’re excited about that.”
MSU will play this weekend at No. 5 Vanderbilt to open SEC play.
MSU went 1-1-1 two weekends ago at the Dodger Stadium Classic. It defeated Southern California, but lost to UCLA and tied Oklahoma. But that trip began to build confidence for the Bulldogs, who overcame a three-run deficit to beat South Alabama last Tuesday.
MSU sophomore outfielder Brent Rooker said the good showing against better competition has boosted the team’s spirit.
“It’s not even about winning, it’s about competing and being in every single game,” Rooker said. “We just happened to play really well and win some games. When you compete really well, everybody in the lineup contributes, guys on the bench contribute, and you come out here and you compete with teams that are as good as Oregon, USC, Oklahoma, and UCLA, it’s a big confidence booster.”
On Monday, Rooker was named SEC Player of the Week after going 7-for-12 with seven RBIs, four runs, two home runs, and a double.
Against Oregon, MSU had 33 hits and scored 24 runs. The MSU pitching staff also received solid starting performances from Dakota Hudson, Austin Sexton, and Daniel Brown. All three starters earned wins.
“It’s a big picture,” Brown said, who threw a career-high seven innings. “We’re confident against any team that comes in here or we go to them we can beat them. We’re going to take this momentum and roll into Vanderbilt after our two midweek games.”
After finishing 24-30 last season, the Bulldogs struggled to find an identity. So far, though, it looks like MSU has found an identity on offensively (batting average of .320) and on the mound (staff ERA of 2.94).
“We have a lot of moving parts,” Cohen said. “We have a lot of people who are doing a lot of things for us. That’s part of being on a team, when you’re name is called you have to be ready for that opportunity, and I feel like our kids are. A part of that is being older, but even some of our younger guys have been thrust into it.”
Cohen pointed to the health of the team as being a big reason the Bulldogs are playing well.
Along with finding an identity, the Bulldogs are having fun, something that wasn’t so easy last season. Rooker feels like that is due to maturity, but he said every player on the team is likable and it’s easy to get along.
“The feel of this team is unbelievable,” Rooker said. “The locker room camaraderie and the locker room chemistry is unbelievable. Everybody’s having fun and everybody’s building off each other.”
MSU is scheduled to start freshman left-handed pitcher Konnor Pilkington (0-0, 0.00 ERA) tonight.
The wins over Oregon provided a lift in so many ways, but MSU knows it is a long season.
“The approach doesn’t change,” Rooker said. “We have to go out and take care of business (today) and Wednesday. We’ve got two really good teams coming this week. We have to keep playing and preparing hard for those two teams.”
n In related news, MSU moved up in all six polls. It moved to No. 15 in D1Baseball.com, Perfect Game, and the USA Today Coaches polls. The Bulldogs are No. 13 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 14 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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