STARKVILLE — Seventeen hits is all Mississippi State had to show for its first weekend of Southeastern Conference baseball, doing so in 93 at-bats to end the weekend at Arkansas with a .183 batting average.
It also had no conference wins. Just a week after being swept by a SEC opponent, the Bulldogs returned the favor.
With Sunday’s 7-4 win over Tennessee, MSU (15-10, 3-3 SEC) continued its offensive revival, ending the weekend with 43 hits in 106 at-bats for a .406 batting average. With 12 extra-base hits throughout, three of them leaving the park, the Bulldogs slugged .604 compared to Tennessee’s .361.
The only difference between the two, as they see it, is the experience gained in losing the first three.
“I think the biggest thing is comfort level of knowing what the SEC is about,” MSU coach Andy Cannizaro said. “You can’t look ahead, you have to bring it every inning, and we have young players that had to learn that last weekend on the road.”
Center fielder Jake Mangum could see it, too.
“We had guys in their first SEC weekend on the road,” he said.
“SEC play, it’s a lot of fun, but it’s a lot more nerves for freshman guys. They’ve done a good job of evolving.”
Brent Rooker bolstered his growing case for conference and national player of the year honors: in addition to being one of six Bulldogs to hit better than .375 against the Volunteers, he included in his five hits a double, a triple and two home runs while driving in six runs.
His home run in Saturday’s 14-4 win was the longest hit by any Bulldog this season, with an estimated distance of 424 feet that put it over the rigs beyond the left field wall.
“He’s the biggest threat in the SEC right now,” Mangum said. “It was the highest pop-fly I’ve ever seen in my life. The hang time was probably 12 seconds, it was unbelievable. He’s one of the best hitters I’ve ever played with.”
Mangum is no small threat himself after leading MSU with a .615 batting average over the weekend (8-13) and driving in six runs from the leadoff spot. Mangum and Rooker
The others to bat better than .375 in the weekend were catcher Josh Lovelady (.500), utility Harrison Bragg (.500) and outfielder/designated hitter Elijah MacNamee (.462).
“This was a team-concept kind of weekend — one through nine in the lineup, starting pitchers, middle relievers, closers, everybody did a great job,” Cannizaro said. “This was all hands on deck the entire weekend and I was super proud of our guys, they brought it for three straight days.”
The offensive outburst did come against a Tennessee pitching staff that entered the weekend in the bottom half of the SEC in pitching statistics such as earned run average, batting average allowed and wild pitches.
MSU’s usual Saturday starter, Peyton Plumlee, was not announced as such going into the weekend, but he ultimately started in that spot and gave MSU six innings of five-hit, one-run pitching, the one run being unearned. Cannizaro said the staff entered the weekend thinking Plumlee would stay in that starting spot, but wanted to see how Plumlee performed in a late-week bullpen session.
Plumlee knew that was the case and Cannizaro said, “he had an outstanding pen and he earned the right to pitch.” Plumlee still let the situation inspire him after a rough outing at Arkansas in his SEC debut.
“I knew the reasoning behind it: I had been kind of slacking off and didn’t have my best stuff,” Plumlee said. “I know I can do this, it just gave me that much more incentive to be a bulldog out there.”
Spencer Price saved both the Friday and Sunday game and now has six saves.
Sunday was MSU’s last home game until April 4, when it plays five in the week leading up to and including Super Bulldog Weekend. MSU spends next week on the road, at Memphis on Tuesday before a three-game series at Ole Miss (15-9, 3-3 SEC) beginning Thursday.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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