Mississippi State won for the 15th time in the last 17 in the series on Friday, knocking off Ole Miss, 5-2, in the first of a three-game set in Starkville. The Bulldogs have won nine straight in the series, and it's really not that complicated: the Bulldogs played better baseball, a common theme from this five-year stretch of one-sidedness in the series.
The game was even tonight, for the most part. Gunnar Hoglund was plenty good enough to win, allowing three runs in seven innings, overcoming a 24-pitch first and struck out nine without a walk. Hoglund gave up four hits and threw 74 of his 109 pitches for strikes. He made a couple mistakes and State punished him with the home run and then the triple there for the go-ahead run. But, all in all, he was electric. The fastball was as good as it's been in a few weeks, and the slider had more tilt than the last couple starts. He was having to be nearly perfect because of the offense, and that was too tall an ask.
Tonight, against Florida in game one and last week in the first game against Arkansas, Ole Miss hasn't been good situationally, and the other team has been better. That's it. State got the big hit and got the sacrifice fly. They took advantage of the ball that got through Jacob Gonzalez in the first inning. MSU made some mistakes, but it made more winning plays.
The Rebels needed to add with the bases loaded, and instead Hayden Dunhurst swing at maybe ball four on a 3-1 count and certainly ball four on a full count. He's the Rebels' best batter at getting on base and he's been incredibly clutch in recent weeks. I'm singling him out because he is the Rebels' best and they had an opportunity to add on and get another hitter up with the bases loaded. The margin is that minimal, especially on Fridays in the league. State was successful with that; Ole Miss wasn't. The two lineups are fairly similar, and MSU got more out of the top half and could overcome empty at-bats elsewhere.
Derek Diamond, in a vacuum, should be suited for that role. I liked the moved to put him in there in that situation and see what you've got. You can't use Taylor Broadway there, and no one else has been overly reliable with high-leverage opportunities. The velocity was expected, and the slider bit well a couple times, but he didn't miss enough bats, and the pitches up in the zone flattened out. There was a little tough luck with ground balls finding holes, but he doesn't look confident. That's the key, especially in high-leverage relief innings. He's not pitching with a purpose and with command like at times earlier in the season.
The bottom of the order remains a mess. Cael Baker had a hit that led to a run tonight, and John Rhys Plumlee saved extra bases in the field. There was some value there, and Calvin Harris and Hayden Leatherwood each struck out in pinch-hit opportunities. While we've concentrated so much on strikeout numbers, it the weak ground ball that's the biggest enemy of offense. Ben Van Cleve and a couple others are rolling over too many pitches and hitting routine grounders that are outs or double plays. They aren't hit hard enough to be hits and there's not enough speed to beat them out. I still think playing Leatherwood every day is the answer because of the upside relative to other options. Getting too left-right dependent is a problem right now.
Credit to Justin Bench for playing and gutting it out. He's in pain and playing through it. His value is underrated.
There's no answer because it's just how the roster is constructed, but it hit me tonight that I don't remember an outfield assist all season. Maybe I missed some, but throws aren't even coming to the plate on sacrifice flies or runners scoring from second on singles. It's not a constant issue, and most score anyway, but it's another way Ole Miss is giving up runs. The outfield arm strength isn't what it typically is.
The game was even tonight, for the most part. Gunnar Hoglund was plenty good enough to win, allowing three runs in seven innings, overcoming a 24-pitch first and struck out nine without a walk. Hoglund gave up four hits and threw 74 of his 109 pitches for strikes. He made a couple mistakes and State punished him with the home run and then the triple there for the go-ahead run. But, all in all, he was electric. The fastball was as good as it's been in a few weeks, and the slider had more tilt than the last couple starts. He was having to be nearly perfect because of the offense, and that was too tall an ask.
Tonight, against Florida in game one and last week in the first game against Arkansas, Ole Miss hasn't been good situationally, and the other team has been better. That's it. State got the big hit and got the sacrifice fly. They took advantage of the ball that got through Jacob Gonzalez in the first inning. MSU made some mistakes, but it made more winning plays.
The Rebels needed to add with the bases loaded, and instead Hayden Dunhurst swing at maybe ball four on a 3-1 count and certainly ball four on a full count. He's the Rebels' best batter at getting on base and he's been incredibly clutch in recent weeks. I'm singling him out because he is the Rebels' best and they had an opportunity to add on and get another hitter up with the bases loaded. The margin is that minimal, especially on Fridays in the league. State was successful with that; Ole Miss wasn't. The two lineups are fairly similar, and MSU got more out of the top half and could overcome empty at-bats elsewhere.
Derek Diamond, in a vacuum, should be suited for that role. I liked the moved to put him in there in that situation and see what you've got. You can't use Taylor Broadway there, and no one else has been overly reliable with high-leverage opportunities. The velocity was expected, and the slider bit well a couple times, but he didn't miss enough bats, and the pitches up in the zone flattened out. There was a little tough luck with ground balls finding holes, but he doesn't look confident. That's the key, especially in high-leverage relief innings. He's not pitching with a purpose and with command like at times earlier in the season.
The bottom of the order remains a mess. Cael Baker had a hit that led to a run tonight, and John Rhys Plumlee saved extra bases in the field. There was some value there, and Calvin Harris and Hayden Leatherwood each struck out in pinch-hit opportunities. While we've concentrated so much on strikeout numbers, it the weak ground ball that's the biggest enemy of offense. Ben Van Cleve and a couple others are rolling over too many pitches and hitting routine grounders that are outs or double plays. They aren't hit hard enough to be hits and there's not enough speed to beat them out. I still think playing Leatherwood every day is the answer because of the upside relative to other options. Getting too left-right dependent is a problem right now.
Credit to Justin Bench for playing and gutting it out. He's in pain and playing through it. His value is underrated.
There's no answer because it's just how the roster is constructed, but it hit me tonight that I don't remember an outfield assist all season. Maybe I missed some, but throws aren't even coming to the plate on sacrifice flies or runners scoring from second on singles. It's not a constant issue, and most score anyway, but it's another way Ole Miss is giving up runs. The outfield arm strength isn't what it typically is.
