MSU ready to begin super regional
MSU, LSU ready for intense battle in super regional
Baton Rouge and Starkville have long been considered a centerpiece of college baseball nationally.
This weekend, that statement intensifies. For the LSU Tigers (46-17) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (40-25), their two programs converge in what State head coach Andy Cannizaro called “a heavy weight fight” with the last team standing securing a spot in Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series.
The coach that now calls Starkville home is a native of Louisiana who recruited many of the purple and gold clad Tigers. He couldn't ask for a better opportunity this weekend and MSU has nothing to lose
“If you've got to go to Omaha, why not try to go through LSU,” Cannizaro said. “They're a program that's accustomed to being there, so is Mississippi State. Let's go play two and see who's standing at the end of Sunday or Monday.”
MSU is once again underdogs, but that's a comfortable spot. The Tigers enter the super regional round winners of 14-straight games that included a share of the Southeastern Conference championship, the SEC West title, the SEC Tournament title and a three-game sweep of their regional round.
LSU is 30-7 at home in one of the most electric atmospheres in baseball at Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers also have a boatload of veteran leadership that handles big moments.
It's a team that the Bulldogs have already seen this year getting swept in the last weekend
of the regular season by a total score of 25-13. That was an eye-opening weekend of the new head coach and his team.
“You got in the ring with them and you figured out at the end of the day, ‘wow, those guys are pretty dang good in the other dugout,'” Cannizaro said of the final regular season weekend. “We played two extremely close ball games with those guys, but we didn't play the brand of baseball that we needed to beat those guys.”
As well as LSU is playing at the moment, MSU is holding its own, too. Losing the first game of the Hattiesburg Regional last week, the Bulldogs responded with four wins in two days, including a two-game sweep of host Southern Miss.
Catcher Josh Lovelady was a big part of the Monday wins, including hitting his first home run as a Bulldog and driving in a career-high four runs. He said the team is playing as anyone at just the right time.
“We're just really confident going into this series and
whether we win or lose, we're going to play as hard as we can with as much passion as we can,” Lovelady said. “We're two games away from Omaha and that's the way we look at it. This is what you come to Mississippi State for to play in a super regional like this.”
It was an unconventional situation for MSU's depleted pitching staff last week. The Bulldogs lost the first game of the series without pitching ace starter Konnor Pilkington. Playing five games, the already-stretched staff found a way to get out alive.
This weekend will actually be a relief in comparison even though facing LSU's dangerous lineup is anything but a relief. MSU will have to play no more than three games only needing to win two.
Cannizaro likes his chances in that arena.
“I think where we are right now, we're not necessarily built for an SEC Tournament," Cannizaro said. "We are built more for a regional and I think our pitching staff is built more for a three-game series than we are a regional. I love where we are right now as a team in terms of what we're doing offensively, defensively and on the mound.”
State will indeed start Pilkington in game one this time around. The Team USA selection for this summer has struck out 107 batters as a starter this year and has been the most reliable hurler for the Bulldogs in his sophomore season.
After that, MSU will continue to piece things together. Jacob Billingsley threw the game of his life to keep the Bulldogs alive in game one against Southern Miss last Monday with a complete game effort with just one run surrendered. Freshman Denver McQuary will be another option for the weekend with sophomore Cole Gordon another potential starter.
“I love our options,” Cannizaro said of the starters. “(Billingsley's) effort going nine innings against an outstanding Southern Miss offense was the reason we won that regional the other night. He was phenomenal. It was the greatest outing of his career in the biggest game he's ever pitched and that's what you're looking for.”
The series begins today in a night game at Alex Box beginning at 8 p.m on ESPN2. Game two will follow on Sunday at the same time with a Monday game three if necessary at a time to be determined.