Mississippi State Baseball Weekend Recap: Bulldogs go 3-1 Against Marist, Indiana State

Hey, Ethan, what happened this weekend?

Baseball happened this weekend and it was odd. The Bulldogs got things off to a good start, taking the first three games of the weekend to bounce back from a disappointing game last Tuesday, but then they collapsed in Sunday, giving up 9 runs to Marist.

Well, what went well?

Just about anything that involves hitting the ball. Mississippi State has had an incredible start to the season at the plate and the Bulldogs are scoring tons of runs because of it.

On the weekend, Mississippi State went .333 at the plate on their way to racking up 48 hits and scoring 40 runs. MSU is a force to be reckoned with at the plate through 9 games.

The aggressive approach that Cannizaro has installed amongst this team is the main reason that MSU has 6 wins this early on. The Bulldogs are providing plenty of run support for the pitchers early on.

What didn’t go so well?

The pitching situation. It’s an utter mess at times. The Bulldogs have a lot of talent to work with on the mound, but there are moments where things do not click at all.

It’s like watching a hiker with an oversized backpack try to stand up after they either fell or sat down awkwardly. They struggle to budge and move and man, they’re not getting anywhere.

It’s even worse when they’re super confident about their ability to walk with a 40 pound backpack and try to take a short cut through a stream and end up falling over in the stream and all of their friends laugh at them.

Not that that’s happened to me, or anything.

Oh, you’ve never seen such a thing. It’s like being the human version of a turtle. Except turtles can’t scream and laugh and fuss at you for laughing at them, at least not to my knowledge.

But yeah, the pitching was very much a mixed bag this weekend. Between a 9th inning scare on Friday night where 5 runs were scored by a then 2 win Indiana State team and then surrendering 9 runs to Marist on Sunday, things weren’t always great on the mound.

That’s not to say that Cannizaro can’t get things straightened out, he absolutely can as there is an abundance of talent for him to work with, he’ll just need to before SEC play begins.

Because this won’t work in the SEC:

Anything cool happen this weekend?

Brent Rooker is an amazing baseball player that does amazing things. In the past week, Rooker has hit 3 home runs and has 14 RBIs. That’s in one week. He went 9 for 19 at the plate and is leading the SEC in RBIs, total bases, and stolen bases.

What’s next for Mississippi State?

The Bulldogs are bound for Eugene, Oregon where they’ll take on the Oregon Ducks, a team that is not off to a great start after having a rough 2016 campaign. The Ducks went a meager 29-26 a year ago, with MSU sweeping them in Dudy Noble, and they’re currently 4-3 in 2017. This is a great chance for MSU to gain some momentum on the road with a series win.