Highfill’s Three-Homer Game Highlights Huge Week
March 11, 2023 | Baseball, Joel Coleman
Bulldogs have won five in a row.
STARKVILLE – It was high enough. But was it far enough? Not even the guy who hit it was sure.
It was the bottom of the eighth inning during the second game of Mississippi State's Saturday doubleheader against Lipscomb. Freshman catcher Ross Highfill already had two home runs in the contest. He'd just made solid contact again and sent a baseball sailing towards the Left Field Lounge.
"I was worried," Highfill said. "I got that one off my hands a little bit, but I knew there was a little wind, so I was hopeful it'd get out."
Get out, it did. Highfill had a three-dinger game – the first by a Bulldog since Brent Rooker hit three out of the park against Kentucky on April 8, 2017.
Highfill's remarkable day helped lead State to a 12-4 victory, a three-game weekend sweep of the Bisons and a five-game winning streak.
Not bad for a guy who was still playing high school baseball last year at this time.
"I'm pretty ecstatic," Highfill said. "Having the dream to come and play baseball at State and then you come out and put up three home runs in a game as a freshman, it's unreal."
Oh, it's real alright. It's completely real. And it's not just all about Saturday. Highfill's first year in Maroon and White has started out nothing short of special.
He's now batting at a .406 clip. That's the highest average on the team for players with more than 30 at-bats. He also leads the club in slugging with eight of his 13 hits this season going for extra bases.
What's Highfill's secret to all his early success? It's nothing out of the ordinary he insists.
"I've just really tried to work hard and just trust in all my coaches and my peers here," Highfill said. "They've really helped me and helped guide my way through and [helped me] have a mature attitude."
There's no doubt Highfill's bat has been incredible. And while that was hard to ignore on a day like Saturday, it was Highfill's emerging skills as State's backstop that stood out to head coach Chris Lemonis.
"I was very pleased with the way he caught," Lemonis said of Highfill. "He's getting better every night behind the dish. He's got special tools back there, but he's still learning and working every day."
There's always room to grow. That goes for Highfill as well as the entire State squad. And grow this team has seemingly done over the last week.
Starting with last Sunday's 8-4 win over California, the Diamond Dawgs have more than steadied the ship after a bit of an up-and-down start to the year.
Over the last five ballgames, Mississippi State has outscored its opponents 44-15. The Bulldogs have hit well. They've pitched well. They've been steady defensively. But maybe the best sign of all has been their resilience.
In both games of Saturday's doubleheader, Lipscomb delivered gut punches to MSU. The Bisons tied the first game up in the ninth. They had a three-run sixth inning in the nightcap that put them in front 4-3. On both occasions, Mississippi State had resounding responses.
Kellum Clark answered the first-game blow with a walk-off long ball in the bottom half of the frame. Then, MSU put up a seven spot in the bottom of the sixth of the second game to negate Lipscomb's rally in the top half.
"That's the sign of a good club," Lemonis said. "Our guys are competing at a high level."
The MSU momentum couldn't have come at a better time as Southeastern Conference play begins this Friday in Kentucky, right after a pair of midweek games down in Biloxi.
It's a big week for the Bulldogs, and they'll enter it with smiles on their faces, feeling good about themselves thanks to Highfill and the others in Maroon and White that keep showing signs they're coming together and forming the team they know they have the talent to be.
"I think we're finding roles and guys are figuring out what they're going to be on this team," Highfill said. "I think that the chemistry that we have right now is really up there…I think we need to just keep the same momentum that we've got and the same rhythm and chemistry we have and attack like we always do."
