STARKVILLE — The decision came sometime earlier this month: Brent Rooker was too good to limit his at-bats.
In the first month of the season, Rooker was locked in as the Mississippi State baseball team’s cleanup hitter. MSU coach Andy Cannizaro then opted to try to get Rooker as many plate appearances as possible. As a result, Rooker has hit third once, first once, and second three times.
The good news is Rooker’s production hasn’t dropped. The new problem is the vacancy in the No. 4 spot in the lineup.
Enter Elijah MacNamee.
The sophomore outfielder has benefited the most from the lineup shuffle — which also has affected Cody Brown and Luke Alexander — with two multi-hit games in five games in the No. 4 hole. He also has a hit in all five games and has four RBIs to lift his batting average from .225 to .276.
MSU (15-10) hopes MacNamee can continue to produce at 6:30 tonight when it takes on Memphis (16-7) at AutoZone Park in Memphis, Tennessee.
“His quality at-bats with runners in scoring position are really good,” Cannizaro said. “He’s another guy that’s a really good player, a sophomore that played in junior college, so it’s about his acclimation process and period of getting ready to play in the SEC, and he’s getting better as we go.”
MacNamee’s resurgence has coincided with the start Southeastern Conference play. Before the Arkansas series, MacNamee went 2-for-18 in the seven days before the first SEC series of the season.
“I feel like I’m getting really comfortable,” MacNamee said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m getting too comfortable — I’m a little late on some pitches — but other than that, I feel great. I go up there with the same approach: (to hit the ball to the) right-center gap. (It doesn’t) matter if the pitcher’s throwing offspeed, fastball, or whatever.
“Everyone’s approach was more aggressive. Not take too many first-pitch fastballs. We finally woke up and said, ‘We need to quit going out there and trying to do too much.’ We know how good we are, and we brought it to the table (last) weekend.”
The production of Brown and Alexander behind him has helped MacNamee build a seven-game hitting streak. Brown had a hit in all three games against Tennessee. On Friday, he had two hits and two RBIs. On Saturday, he had a hit and scored a run before leaving the game with a finger injury. He returned Sunday and went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
Further down the lineup, catcher Josh Lovelady continued the trend. He started all three games against Tennessee and had four hits and drove in five runs. Brant Blaylock and Tanner Poole also provided sparks. Poole had a hit, scored a run, and drove in a run Friday. He had two hits and scored two runs Saturday. Blaylock went 2-for-4 and scored two runs Sunday.
“We’re going to have guys on in front of us with those guys hitting,” Lovelady said. “As long as we continue to do that and we’re able to hit one through nine, it’s going to be pretty good. We were kind of waiting for that explosion to happen like we did on Saturday (in a 14-4 win).”
MSU likely won’t make many lineup changes prior to its three-game series against Ole Miss in Oxford. The series begins at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPNU).
n Notes: Cannizaro announced Graham Ashcraft will start against Memphis. It will be his first start since March 5 at Oregon. Since then, he has appeared four times in relief. In his last outing, he threw two innings of scoreless, one-hit relief last Tuesday. Jacob Billingsley, the team’s usual Tuesday starter, is still out with an ankle injury. … Cannizaro said he has “fingers crossed” second baseman Hunter Stovall will be able to play against Ole Miss. … Relief pitcher Ryan Rigby saw a specialist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for his groin injury and will require surgery. Cannizaro expected him to be out six to eight weeks. Cannizaro also said pitcher Blake Smith had elbow surgery and didn’t give a timetable for his recovery.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
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