Stevens’ Arm And Bat Shining Brightly For State
March 16, 2024 | Baseball
Freshman Bulldog already standing out as a two-way player.
STARKVILLE – Launching 400-foot home runs and pumping 95-mile per hour fastballs are part of what makes baseball such an exciting game, but very rarely do you find a player that does both.
Well, that's exactly what Mississippi State has found in Nolan Stevens, who has come in as a freshman and been productive at the plate and dominant on the mound.
Wednesday night, Stevens earned the start in left field in the Diamond Dawgs' 2-1 victory over New Orleans down in Biloxi and he hammered his first career home run 398 feet to right field. Just two days later, Stevens toed the rubber out of the Bulldog bullpen and cruised through 5.2 innings of one-run ball to guide MSU to a 10-4 win over No. 2 LSU in the SEC opener.
"I don't know if you expect a freshman to do that, no matter who it is," Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis said. "He's super talented. You saw that tonight, but he's talented. He's pitched with a lot of poise this year. Had a big home run on Wednesday night. This kid's a baseball fanatic. I mean, he lives the game, and I think that's one reason he came to Mississippi State is because he wanted to be in a town where it was all baseball."
Stevens is a long way from his native Elk Grove, California, outside of Sacramento, but he's already made a home for himself at Dudy Noble Field. The 6-foot-4 left-hander has made a smooth transition to college baseball with a .364 batting average in 11 at-bats and a 1.84 earned run average with 19 strikeouts and just two walks in 14.2 innings.
Friday night proved to be Stevens' biggest test yet with the reigning national champion Tigers rolling into town, and when he entered the game in the fourth inning, the Bulldogs were in a tight spot trailing 3-2 while the Tigers had two runners on and nobody out.
Stevens made quick work of his first SEC inning, stranding the two base runners with a flyout, a fielder's choice and his first of a career-high eight strikeouts. After getting the Bulldogs out of that jam, nothing was going to stop the powerful left-hander as he held the Tigers hitless over the next four innings.
"It was a great feeling," Stevens said. "Our team has been preparing for SEC play all year. When it comes to emotions, we have a saying – ride the wave so you can't get too high or too low."
While Stevens bullied the LSU offense with his powerful 95 mile-per-hour fastball and pinpoint slider, the Diamond Dawg offense rallied to score eight more runs behind a pair of long balls from Hunter Hines.
The only run Stevens surrendered on the day came in the top of the ninth after the Bulldog offense had given him some insurance with four runs in the bottom of the eighth. When he exited the ball game with two outs, he was greeted by over 11,000 who had just witnessed a masterful performance from the freshman who finished with 5.2 innings pitched, one hit, one run, two walks and eight strikeouts.
"Nolan Stevens just solved every problem," Lemonis said. "I mean that is a coming out party. He's been good, but that was a special performance tonight."
Stevens had an excellent feel for his pitches to make him look like a seasoned veteran in his SEC debut, and his trust in Mississippi State pitching coach Justin Parker combined with his natural ability made for a memorable performance.
"Everything felt pretty good today," Stevens said. "I think the big thing was just trusting Parker. He's calling everything and I'm just trusting him because he knows exactly what he's talking about. He's helped me a lot from the fall to now. I think that's a big part of it, just believing what he's putting down."
Most pitchers will have time to refresh after throwing 82 pitches, but Stevens will need to lock in for any at-bats he may get for the remainder of the series. He must work harder than anyone else so he can get his reps in on the mound and stay locked in for the opportunities that many arise at the plate, but Stevens doesn't treat it any differently than he did as a Little Leaguer.
"I think I'm handling it well, but to be honest, nothing has really changed since I was a kid," Stevens said. "I'm pitching and hitting just like I was when I was seven. Just keep it a kid's game and have fun, and it shouldn't be too hard for me."
