Diamond Dog Norris Repeats As SEC's Top Freshman; MSU Ranked 24th
Norris (.359/1-0, 1 save, 0.75 ERA) starred for the Bulldogs at the plate and on the mound last weekend in helping lead Mississippi State to its first SEC series sweep in 34 series dating back to 2007. He opened the first two games of the Auburn series at first base, registering a pair of multi-hit games and a .556 weekend batting average while scoring four runs. Norris then took the hill in Sunday's series finale against the Tigers, earning his first career win with a season-longest 5.1-inning relief appearance in State's sweep-clinching 5-0 shutout of No. 20 Auburn. He allowed two singles and retired 16 of the 18 batters faced to help secure State's fourth shutout of the campaign and MSU's first against an SEC opponent in 88 league games. In four relief appearances (12.0 IP) Norris has compiled a 0.75 ERA with a win, a save, 12 strikeouts and one run allowed.
"We are really proud of Daryl," said MSU head coach John Cohen. "As a two-way player many times a young man can lose focus. But Daryl has been able to separate the two positions and be productive on a high level offensively and on the mound. We feel privileged to have several highly-skilled freshmen like Daryl contributing on our ball club this year."
Alabama catcher/DH Josh Rosecrans was named SEC Player of the Week and Vanderbilt left-hander Grayson Garvin was tabbed as the SEC Pitcher of the Week.
No. 24 Mississippi State, 18-6 and 4-2 in league play, hosts first-time foe Alabama A&M Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. before traveling on to Athens, Ga., for a three-game Southeastern Conference weekend series at Georgia. The Bulldogs made their seasonal debut in the national rankings this week, ranked 24th in Collegiate baseball newspaper's weekly poll. It's the first national ranking for MSU baseball since Collegiate Baseball ranked State at No. 25 four weeks into the 2009 campaign and the highest for MSU since a No. 23 preseason ranking in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll in 2008.