Bulldogs glad to have Rooker on their side
Brent Rooker became the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year by blasting over 20 home runs, hitting 30 doubles and driving in over 80 runs.
Yet the biggest hit of Rooker’s Mississippi State career may have been just a fly ball single to right field in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
With the game and the season on the line for the Bulldogs against Southern Mississippi at the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional, Rooker hit a high pop up that fell between three Golden Eagle outfielders to drive in his 81st and 82nd runs of the year.
That gave MSU a 7-6 lead over Southern Miss and it went on to an 8-6 victory to capture the Hattiesburg Regional championship.
The Bulldogs don’t care what it looked like. All they know was Rooker got the job done again.
“In the box score, it looks like a missile to right field or he stayed on a changeup and drove it the other way,” MSU coach Andy Cannizaro said. “It was the biggest hit of the season we’ve had so far and certainly the biggest hit of his year and the thing went about 115 feet down the right field line.”
It was just the latest part of what could be the greatest offensive year in Mississippi State history.
During the Hattiesburg Regional, Rooker became the only player in SEC history to have 23 home runs, 30 doubles and 82 RBI.
Pitcher Konnor Pilkington is definitely glad to have Rooker as a Bulldog and is certainly glad he doesn’t have to throw against him.
“He’s gotten so many honors this year,” Pilkington said. “He’s the best player in the SEC. Having someone like that on your team is really huge for us this year in having a young team. For someone to come in and have a standup year, right before the draft too, it’s just awesome.”
Cannizaro doesn’t see Rooker’s fly ball that fell to drive in two runs as something that happened by accident.
He also doesn’t think it’s just a stroke of luck that MSU will compete against LSU in the Baton Rouge Super Regional this weekend.
“You just grind, compete, fight and claw your way each and every day,” Cannizaro said. “We’ve had so many things go our way the last couple of weeks and over the course of the season, but you don’t get breaks by mistake. You get breaks because you put yourself in a position for something good to happen on the field.”