STARKVILLE — With an unfamiliar opponent, John Cohen hasn’t decided on his pitching rotation for the Starkville Regional this weekend.
Top-seeded and No. 4 MSU (41-16-1) will open NCAA tournament play at 1:30 p.m. Friday against fourth-seeded Southeast Missouri State (39-19) at Dudy Noble Field.
“We’ve got to see SEMO play before we make that decision,” Cohen said Monday. “I couldn’t tell you what their left/right situation is, and that’s going to be important, (or) what their breakdown numbers are left on left and right on right.”
MSU has one of the best one-two starting pitching combinations with junior right-hander Dakota Hudson (9-4, 2.35 ERA) and junior right-hander Austin Sexton (7-3, 3.83). Last week in the Southeastern Conference tournament in Hoover, Alabama, Hudson lasted five innings and gave up four runs (two earned) on nine hits in a 6-2 loss to LSU. Sexton threw 4 1/3 innings and gave up seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits in a 12-2, seven-inning loss to Florida.
MSU’s best pitching performance came from junior right-hander Zac Houston (5-0, 1.93) in a 4-1 victory against Alabama on Wednesday. Making his fifth start, the Poplarville native threw 8 2/3 innings and allowed one run on four hits. He struck out five and didn’t issue a walk. Cohen feels Houston has a shot to be in the mix.
“That coupled with the fact with what he’s done in his bullpens and in practice, his mentality, his body language, everything about him says, ‘Hey, I’m a real guy. I’m throwing the baseball well and I can get people out,’ ” Cohen said.
Freshman left-hander Konnor Pilkington (3-1, 2.08) has been the third starter. He threw 2/3 of an inning in relief against Florida. He didn’t allow a run and gave up one hit. He struck out one and walked none.
Strong ace
Southeast Missouri State has an ace to match Hudson.
Senior left-hander Joey Lucchesi (10-4, 1.87) leads the NCAA with 145 strikeouts in 105 2/3 innings. He has given up 29 runs (22 earned) on 86 hits. He has walked 37.
He has thrown two complete games, including a complete-game shutout of Morehead State on Friday in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.
“He’s a competitor,” SEMO coach Steve Bieser said. “He has a good repertoire of pitches, where he’s got a good two-pitch mix. He’s a bulldog. He’s just really been able to locate his pitches and his a strike thrower.”
Bieser is unsure if the Newark, California, native will throw against MSU. After throwing 119 pitches against Morehead State, he threw 35 pitches in three innings Sunday to pick up his first save and help SEMO beat Jacksonville State 14-8 in the OVC tournament championship game.
Bieser hopes to get Lucchesi on track for Friday, but he doesn’t want to risk anything.
“We don’t want him less than 100 percent,” Bieser said. “If we have to wait an extra day, we may wait an extra day.”
Junior right-hander Clay Chandler (4-5, 3.91) and junior left-hander Robert Beltran (8-1, 4.46) have started 14 and 16 games, respectively.
Titan of a staff
Cal State Fullerton has one of the nation’s best pitching staffs.
Even though the Titans lead the NCAA with a 2.21 staff ERA, coach Rick Vanderhook is surprised his pitchers have performed so well. He gives all the credit to pitching coach Jason Dietrich.
“He’s good at what he does,” Vanderhook said. “We’ve been pretty good at pitching for the last five years. We’ve put a couple of pieces to the puzzle, developing the pitching staff.”
Second-seeded and No. 21 Cal State Fullerton (35-21) will play third-seeded Louisiana Tech (40-18) at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Like Cohen, Vanderhook hasn’t named a starter. He plans to study Louisiana Tech first before he makes a decision.
Dietrich interviewed for the MSU opening after Butch Thompson left to take over the Auburn job in October. He decided to return to Fullerton and Cohen hired Dallas Baptist’s Wes Johnson.
Vanderhook has leaned on junior right-hander Scott Serigstad (1-1, 1.13), junior right-hander Dylan Prohoroff (1-1, 0.69), junior right-hander Miles Chambers (3-1, 1.01), junior left-hander Maxwell Gibbs (0-1, 4.50), and junior right-hander Chad Hockin (0-0, 1.11).
Freshman Colton Eastman (8-2, 2.11), sophomore left-hander John Gavin (6-3, 2.16), and sophomore right-hander Connor Seabold (7-5, 2.42) have combined for 40 starts.
“They’ve settled in to a pretty good situation among themselves,” Vanderhook said. “They’re all different. They’ve all pitched out of the bullpen. It’s just a different look. They all throw different pitches for strikes.”
Vanderhook hopes to have senior first baseman Tanner Pinkston back. He dislocated his elbow two weeks ago, but he played last weekend in the first two games at Long Beach State. Vanderhook said Pinkston’s elbow flared up after the playing time.
Pinkston is third on the team with a .377 batting average. He has a team-high 71 hits and has hit four home runs and has 38 RBIs.
Finding themselves
After a 6-3 loss at Western Kentucky on April 8 in Game 1 of a three-game series, Louisiana Tech fell to 16-10 and 4-6 in Conference USA.
The Bulldogs rebounded for a 12-9 victory in Game 2. Starting pitcher Tyler Clancy left Game 3 after three innings and gave way to Casey Sutton, who threw five shutout innings in a series-clinching 3-1 win.
“I felt like that was the weekend that really turned our season around,” Louisiana Tech coach Greg Goff said. “I really felt like we went through some tough times, everybody was really, really down and we had a guy, Casey Sutton, that really stepped up and kind of equalized. From that point on, we rolled.”
Louisiana Tech finished 24-8 down the stretch and won a school-record five-straight Conference USA series to finish fifth.
Junior right-hander Sutton (7-1, 1.63), who played at Hinds Community College, became a starter after that. Goff said Sutton, who had Tommy John Surgery last season, pitched to his capabilities. Goff was careful with Sutton early on but turned him loose down the stretch.
With 18 junior college transfers on the team, the Bulldogs needed time to develop chemistry and an identity.
“The experience we gained early in the year played a vital role,” Goff said. “Our guys were starting to feel more comfortable and more confident playing at this level.”
Goff, who played at Delta State, said Sutton or junior left-hander Phillip Diehl (5-5, 4.70) will start against Cal State Fullerton.
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Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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