Mississippi State will be breaking in a new pitching coach this spring.
First-year State coach Scott Foxhall inherits a pitching staff which features nine returning arms and nine newcomers. The Bulldogs have a mix of a dozen right-handers and six lefties on staff.
Junior southpaw Ethan Small will serve as the staff ace and Friday night starter after serving in the Saturday slot last year. Small logged 1011/3 innings across 18 starts in 2018, posting a 5-4 record with a 3.20 earned run average, 122 strikeouts and only 33 walks.
“He’s done it, he’s been there and he’s been one of our best all year,” said MSU head coach Chris Lemonis. “[He is the] leader of our pitching staff, so I feel confident about him there. After that we’ve got to figure it out.”
On Friday, the 14th-ranked Bulldogs broke in the new Dudy Noble Field with a 14-3 victory over Youngstown State. They were part of an opening-day record crowd of 8,503.
MSU currently has four other candidates to fill starting roles on the mound. Returning right-handers Keegan James and Peyton Plumlee are in the mix along with freshman righties JT Ginn and Eric Cerantola, both of whom were drafted last season.
What about in relief? “I think the pieces of Spencer, Cole Gordon and Riley Self are huge,” Lemonis said.
“We’re trying to find that. The piece for us is, who is the lefty in that mix? We’re really trying to figure it out. We have some candidates there. We’re really trying to figure out who that left-hander is that could come in and pound the zone with strikes.”
Mississippi State capped its tumultuous 2018 season with a trip to Omaha and reached the bracket final before falling to eventual national champion Oregon State. Much of that team returns, including center fielder Jake Mangum, who has led the Bulldogs in hitting two of the last three seasons.
Mangum has been a catalyst for Mississippi State since arriving in Starkville and now returns for his senior season. He needs 78 hits to break former Louisiana State star Eddy Furniss’ SEC career hits record (352), a mark well within his reach. Mangum is a career .356/.421/.453 hitter for the Bulldogs, and anything they do this spring will likely start with their star center fielder.
State has made three straight super regionals with three different coaches leading the way. As a result, each team has done it a little differently, and that will be the case again in 2019. As this year’s Bulldogs set their sights on a return trip to Omaha, they will rely on the experienced bats of Mangum and Elijah MacNamee and a strong pitching staff.
If a couple young players take a step forward, MSU could be a dangerous team.
nContact Bill Burrus at 581-7237 or bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
