STARKVILLE — Through two games against Vanderbilt, the Mississippi State baseball team has had the Commodores sweating 17 times.
Seventeen times, MSU has put a runner in scoring position. Seventeen times, MSU has failed to produce a hit.
Timely hitting — the lack thereof — has already handed MSU (10-9, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) the series loss in its SEC opener after a 5-0 loss Friday and a 10-1 setback Saturday.
MSU can fix it at 11 a.m. today, but all involved know that’s easier said than done, especially as frustration creeps into the team’s thinking.
“Not only does the team have a little bit of frustration in those situations, but I think everybody at the ballpark that supports the Bulldogs is a little frustrated,” MSU interim coach Gary Henderson said. “That’s part of the game sometimes, and we have to get through it.
“We got some quality walks (Friday), but in terms of the big hit with guys on base, especially early in the game, we’re still waiting on that to happen for us.”
The struggles make themselves most clear in the numbers of its leadoff hitter, junior center fielder Jake Mangum. Over his last seven games, Mangum has eight hits, four walks, and four stolen bases, yet he has scored only two runs. Mangum has a .409 on-base percentage, but he has scored only 11 runs.
Difficult game
Saturday’s game was more frustrating than its predecessor, as MSU came up hitless in 11 opportunities with a runner in scoring position and 21 opportunities with a runner on base as it stranded a total of 14.
MSU saw those opportunities go by the wayside in every way imaginable. In the first inning, a leadoff single and a sacrifice bunt was ruined with two strikeouts; an inning later, MSU got the contact it looked for after a leadoff single, but not in the right spots to score the run. The Bulldogs even had the bases loaded with one out in the fourth just for two outs within the infield.
The coup de gras came in the seventh, when a Luke Alexander leadoff double was spoiled by three strikeouts, despite an extra baserunner granted by a hit batsman. The Bulldogs did get one moment to exhale in the ninth when freshman designated hitter Tanner Allen’s solo home run to right field snapped MSU’s 25-inning scoreless streak.
Looking for answers
MSU is in the midst of finding answers. Henderson made some tweaks to the lineup for Saturday’s game, moving Alexander from fourth to second where Hunter Stovall was, who batted seventh Saturday.
“At times, the idea is to put someone in a position to get a few more fastballs and help them get going,” Henderson said.
Yet, Henderson isn’t one that believes in drastic changes producing results. He has repeated in tough stretches that baseball and its fundamentals have not changed and getting back to those fundamentals is often the fix. His players also view the fix as simple.
“I think we’re getting pitched differently with runners in scoring position, and until we figure out how to handle it, we have to learn from it, go forward and continue to get better,” outfielder Hunter Vansau said, pointing to more offspeed pitches in those situations. “It’s something we’re struggling with right now. We’re stringing a lot of good at-bats together, then we get to runners in scoring position and it goes sideways. I think with the maturity of this team, we’re going to figure it out and we’ll finally get that hit when it matters.”
Optimism for that fix coming remains the dominant message and isn’t likely to change anytime soon.
Young in places
MSU looks to the youth on its roster — four freshman made their SEC debuts Friday and stayed in the lineup Saturday — and knows the optimism is what they need.
“The first thing is you stay positive and you maintain a simple, very direct plan, hopefully something easy to execute,” Henderson said. “Sometimes the game has to come to you a little bit when you’re in the box, you can’t be reaching or expanding because you’re so eager to make something happen.”
Said Saturday’s starting pitcher Ethan Small (1-2), “I think this team is going to turn a corner; I don’t know when, but I think we will.”
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