HOOVER, Ala. — Andy Cannizaro generally checks up on his starting pitchers after each inning, even if he only asks how they feel.
Cannizaro didn’t need to do that with Konnor Pilkington on Wednesday morning. He quickly saw there wasn’t much to discuss.
“He kept coming off the mound after each inning saying, ‘Send me back out there, send me back out there,’ ” Cannizaro said. “By no means was I even thinking about taking him out, so at some point I just quit asking. The game was his.”
Pilkington allowed five hits in eight shutout eight innings to lead the No. 18 and fifth-seeded Mississippi State baseball team to a 3-0 victory against 12th-seeded Georgia in an elimination game in the Southeastern Conference tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
The victory pushed MSU (35-22) into the double-elimination portion of the event and a matchup against No. 13 and fourth-seeded Arkansas at 9:30 a.m. today (SEC Network).
Brent Rooker’s two-run home run provided nearly all of the offense Pilkington (7-5) needed. The sophomore left-hander walked two and struck out six in a 100-pitch outing.
Not only was the start one of Pilkington’s best this season, it also displayed what Cannizaro sees as the next step in his development.
“One of the things that Konnor needs to continue doing a better job of, and I think he’ll get better in his maturation on the mound, is he needs to continue pitching to contact early in counts,” Cannizaro said. “He’s a strikeout pitcher, but I think what he did today with all his fastballs and curveballs for strikes got more early contact and got him deeper in the ballgame.”
Pilkington pitched to the first two batters of the ninth. His recent history includes a 107-pitch, six-inning outing against LSU, a 122-pitch, seven-inning performance against Auburn, and a 108-pitch, 5 2/3-inning effort against Alabama. Pilkington’s performance against Georgia came on a day Cannizaro admitted he hoped to get five innings from his starter.
Pilkington’s previous starts, the ones with high pitch counts in short appearances, featured more strikeouts. The six strikeouts he had Wednesday contrasted eight of his previous 14 appearances in which he had seven or more strikeouts. He lasted eight innings in only two of those starts.
Pilkington’s ability to pitch to weak contact early in counts allowed his to go deep into the game and enabled MSU to have almost its entire staff available for Arkansas. Pilkington needed just six pitches to get through the sixth and eight pitches to retire the next three batters. The sixth and seventh innings were part of a run of 15 in a row he retired.
The only time Pilkington faced serious danger was in the second, when Georgia (25-32) used a leadoff walk and single to put runners on first and second with no outs. Pilkington struck out the next batter and benefited from a failed sacrifice bunt attempt before forcing an inning-ending groundout.
The sequence came after MSU pitching coach Gary Henderson visited the mound.
“He told me to be relaxed,” Pilkington said.
Pilkington had every reason to trust Henderson because he had dominated Georgia in a 9-3 win on May 12 in Athens, Georgia. Pilkington pitched eight shutout innings in that game and allowed four hits and struck out seven. Pilkington said he didn’t change his plan of attack against Georgia.
“Away with lefties and keeping the fastball down in the zone,” Pilkington said.
Said Georgia coach Scott Stricklin, “He’s primarily a fastball guy. We knew that, but the thing he did today was he would throw the fastball outside and he’d come back in. He’d use that breaking ball just to keep you off balance.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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