Ex-ECS star Rooker leads Miss. State
Mississippi State outfielder Brent Rooker, a former Evangelical Christian School three-sport star, leads the Southeastern Conference in eight offensive categories entering Tuesday night’s game against the University of Memphis at AutoZone Park.
He’s hitting .424 with eight home runs and 38 runs batted in. He has 13 doubles, 14 stolen bases and 80 total bases. He has a slugging percentage of .870 and an on-base percentage of .518.
“His statistics are just mind-boggling right now,” said Memphis coach Daron Schoenrock. “He is having an SEC Player of the Year-type season.”
Being atop multiple offensive categories in one of the nation’s strongest baseball conferences — eight teams are ranked in the latest Top 25 poll — is impressive. The Bulldogs have played six SEC games, including sweeping last weekend’s three-game series against Tennessee. Rooker has spread his punishment evenly.
In addition to two home runs and a triple in SEC play, Rooker, who also plays first base, has had at least one hit in each of the six games. He is hitting .454 (10of-22) with nine runs batted in against conference competition.
Rooker credits his torrid start to a combination of playing for the Brewster (Mass.) Whitecaps in the Cape Cod Baseball League — a premier wooden-bat summer league for college athletes — and the Bulldogs’ coaching staff.
“It was a good experience for me,” Rooker said. “There was a ton of competition.”
His early season outburst has come before the Bulldogs (15-10) have ventured deeply in league play, but it’s apparent Rooker, regardless of the competition, is on a mission: he is intent on improving his draft position. He was taken in the 38th round of last year’s major league baseball draft by the Minnesota Twins, but didn’t sign. He was determined to make himself a more attractive prospect.
“I talked to my parents (Terry, a former Memphis player, and Lynne) and we decided the best thing for me was to come back and develop for another year,” Rooker said.
Rooker said he felt he was undervalued in the draft and is using the `snub’ as motivation for this season.
“He has been an offensive force for them,” said Schoenrock, a former Mississippi State assistant. “But he is a veteran player with a lot of at bats under his belt. He has really figured things out.”
Rooker’s batting average is 100 percent points higher than a year ago, when he hit .324 with 11 homers and 54 RBI.
At ECS, Rooker had a memorable senior season. As the team’s starting quarterback, he led the Eagles to the state title game. He also started on the basketball team that reached the state finals. And in baseball, he helped direct ECS to a state title over Harding. “That was a lot of fun,” he said. Memphis (16-7) will enter the game on a roll of its own. The Tigers have won six straight and nine of their last 11, including a 2-1 extra-inning victory a week ago at AutoZone Park against 11th-ranked Ole Miss. Schoenrock said right-hander Jonathan Bowlan (2-2, 4.66 earned-run average) will start, a week after an impressive outing against Ole Miss in which he held the Rebels to four hits in eight-plus innings with eight strikeouts.
“He pitched ahead in the count (against Ole Miss) better than he has all year,” Schoenrock said. “He continually denied the leadoff hitters, got a lot of first-pitch strikes and his velocity was very good.”
Schoenrock said Bowlan, 6-7 and 235 pounds, has increased his velocity by 10 mph since last season and has consistently thrown in the mid-90s. If Bowlan continues to pitch aggressively and effectively, Schoenrock said he’ll challenge for one of the three weekend starting positions.