State Lineup Off To Strong Start In Starkville Regional

Mississippi State's Luke Hancock drove in three runs on Friday.

State Lineup Off To Strong Start In Starkville Regional

June 04, 2021 | Baseball, Joel Coleman

Bulldogs get offensive production from up and down the batting order

By: Joel Coleman, Senior Writer

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis has seen it time and time again in his career. The postseason starts, players try to do a little too much, hitters squeeze the life out of bat handles and the nerves impact performance.

Well Lemonis' Bulldogs didn't have that problem on Friday. State found production up and down its lineup as MSU topped Samford 8-4 to move into the winner's bracket of the Starkville Regional. When it came time to start their postseason push, the Bulldogs and their bats were ready.

"We didn't get too big," Lemonis said. "Sometimes in this opening game of a tournament, everybody's trying to swing a little too hard and do some things. Our approach was just to stay on balls, make them make plays and I thought our guys did a great job with that."

Virtually every Bulldog contributed in some fashion on Friday. Rowdey Jordan and Luke Hancock were the headliners of the attack. Both had three hits with Jordan scoring three runs and Hancock driving in three. Tanner Allen and Kellum Clark also both had multiple-hit days as Clark continues to prove to be a blossoming star in the back half of the Bulldog order.

"Kellum is a great player," Hancock said of his teammate. "I think he's shown that over the past couple of weeks and he's continued to get better and better. I'm glad he's hot right now."

While Jordan, Hancock, Allen and Clark were the ones that lit up the stat sheet, maybe the most impressive parts of MSU's day were the things that don't jump off the page of a box score.
There's the fact the Bulldogs struck out just three times all day.

"I tell you, we couldn't finish [Mississippi State's] guys, that's for sure," Samford head coach Casey Dunn said. "I thought they did a good job just getting balls in play deep in counts. A couple of times I think we failed to execute which led to some of their big swings, but more times than not, I thought they just did a good job of competing in the box, putting balls in play and they kept pressuring us."

Then, there were the productive plate appearances that didn't result in a hit. Kamren James went 0-for-2, but had a run-scoring groundout and a bases-loaded walk that drove home a run. Logan Tanner went hitless, but delivered a sacrifice fly late that extended the MSU lead. Lane Forsythe had a sac fly of his own earlier.

"I think to win, one through nine has to produce," Hancock said. "Whether it's getting someone over or hitting a sacrifice fly.
"We had people moving runners over…It was big for us."
Over in the dugout, Lemonis was proud to see it all. Whether it was a big hit or just a productive out, MSU's skipper approved of how his team found ways to deliver at the dish.

"I thought guys were great," Lemonis said. "I thought we did a great job with situational hitting – moving a runner, getting a runner in. It's just making things happen and having quality at-bats."

It was unquestionably a strong day for the State sticks and a great start for MSU's attempt to emerge victoriously from the Starkville Regional. Now, the task ahead is clear – keep it up.

"I think we played a really good game of baseball and we just have to carry that over into the next couple of days," Hancock said.