To say that Mississippi State has struggled on the mound this season would be an understatement. The Bulldog pitching staff ranks last in the SEC with a 6.51 earned run average and 180 walks, and that ERA jumps to 12.46 in SEC play. The good news for State is that they'll have one of their top arms back this weekend.
When Mississippi State travels east on Highway 82 to take on Alabama today, Cade Smith will be on the bump for the Diamond Dogs. The junior right-hander started on all 14 weekends for the Bulldogs last season and led the starting pitchers with a 3.86 ERA. Smith wasn't at his sharpest earlier this season as his fastball topped at 93 MPH in his start against Arizona State on February 24th, but after missing over a month with an injury he returned out of the bullpen against South Carolina on Friday and pitched two hitless innings with his fastball reaching 96.
Smith's return to the rotation is important for multiple reasons. For one, it gives the Bulldogs a proven SEC starter as its series opener, but it also provides the Bulldogs with more pieces to work with in the bullpen.
"It's huge for us. Cade is a huge piece of this team," Bulldog catcher and captain Luke Hancock said. "We missed him whenever he was out, for sure. To see him come out on Friday night against them [South Carolina], he pitched really good those two innings. Velocity was back, he commanded the ball good, so that's huge for us going forward."
Freshman Jurrangelo Cijntje and Memphis transfer Landon Gartman will remain in the starting rotation while being pushed back a day, and Ball State transfer Nate Dohm will move back to the bullpen.
Dohm should provide the shutdown closing he provided earlier this season before becoming a starter. The righty with a fastball up to 98 MPH owns a 0.93 ERA as a reliever, and his 35:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio will be much needed in the back end of the bullpen.
It's hard to say for sure how long of a leash Smith will have tomorrow. Based on Head Coach Chris Lemonis' comments in his postgame presser Tuesday, it wouldn't have been expected for Smith to be back in the starting rotation.
"We’re just going to stretch him some more. We’re going to try to get another inning or two out of him, and then another inning or two the following week." Lemonis said of Smith. "I think he’s about two weeks from being full go like he normally would."
If Smith can't go a full outing, the most important thing will be to figure out the middle innings, which has plagued Scott Foxhall's pitching staff season. One option in long relief could be freshman Bradley Loftin. A lefty from DeSoto Central, the same high school Smith hails from, Loftin has started five midweek games. He hasn't started the past two midweek matchups, but over the weekend Lemonis said that he would pitch.
"He’ll pitch this week," Lemonis said.
Loftin holds a 2.25 ERA on the season, and while he leads the team with 24 walks, he's tied for the team lead with Cijntje and Gartman at 39 strikeouts despite logging fewer innings. The southpaw has allowed opposing hitters to bat just .148 with only one home run, thanks to a fastball that touches 96 and a changeup that keeps both righties and lefties off balance.
Another potential innings eater is Northeast Mississippi C.C. product Colby Holcombe. At a glance, Holcombe's numbers don't wow you with a 5.60 ERA, but the 6'6" 250-pound righty has found his groove as of late. Holcombe pitched three scoreless frames against Vanderbilt two weekends ago and struck out eight South Carolina hitters in four innings last week.
For the Bulldog pitching staff to reach its full potential, they'll need some production from a few other guys. Texas transfer Aaron Nixon has shown flashes with eight strikeouts and only two hits allowed in five innings, but he's shown some rust after a month off with an injury having also hit six batters.
Freshmen Brock Tapper and Evan Siary have also shown some potential, and the most important attribute they've brought is their strike-throwing ability. The lefty Tapper has struck out 13 and walked five in 12.1 innings, while Siary, a righty from Starkville Academy has racked up 21 strikeouts and eight walks in 19.1 innings, making them two of only four pitchers on the staff with a BB/9 of less than four.
First pitch for Mississippi State and Alabama is set for 5 p.m. in Tuscaloosa this evening. The Bulldogs (1-8) and Crimson Tide (3-6) are both searching for their first SEC series victories and how well the two teams perform on the mound will be the deciding factor.
