The strength of Mississippi State’s baseball team this year has been pitching, plain and simple. The Dawg’s hurlers are 4th in the nation in team earned run average at 2.58. That is a pretty incredible stat considering the level of competition State was playing all year.

MSU pitching coach Butch Thompson has done a great job with this pitching staff. It’s not like he has 10 guys who throw 95 with fall-off-the-table breaking balls. Most of these pitchers have experienced their success through pitch location, changing speeds and keeping hitters off balance. That’s a tribute to Thompson’s ability to coach ‘em up, and the player’s willingness and ability to execute the plan.

Mississippi State has 14 players with an ERA under 4.0…that is incredible. There are 9 with an ERA under 3.0, 5 under 2.0 and two guys under 1.0. Here are the team leaders in ERA (with innings pitched included)…

Johnathon Holder: 0.00, 27.1, 9 saves
Ben Bracewell: 0.96, 18.2
Ross Mitchell: 1.02, 35.1
Tanner Gaines: 1.08, 8.1
Luis Pollorena: 1.85, 34
Chris Stratton: 2.21, 102, 11 wins
Brandon Woodruff: 2.38, 34
Caleb Reed: 2.56, 52.2, 8 saves
Kendall Graveman: 2.92, 86.1, 2 complete games
Trevor Fitts: 3.29, 13.2
Jacob Lindgren: 3.33, 24.1
Evan Mitchell: 3.52, 38.1
Taylor Stark: 3.68, 7.1
Nick Routt: 3.83, 44.2

Junior catcher Mitch Slauter has been a integral part of the Bulldogs success this year. His statistics don’t jump off the page, but the value he provides to the team cannot be measured that way.

Slauter is in his first year at State, coming from Barton Community College in Kansas. He has played in all 61 of MSU’s games – starting 59 of them. In a season where the Diamond Dawgs have been hampered by injuries and missed games, Slauter has been there for every game at the sport’s most demanding position. In the mid-day Alabama sun, he caught every pitch for six straight days in the SEC Tournament… quite a performance. Here is what John Cohen had to say about his catcher…

We had to bring in a junior college catcher that had some experience. Butch Thompson came to me and told me he thought that he had the guy. I asked if he had seen him play. He said, ‘No, but I have talked to him on the phone and I am going to go watch him play.’  When he came back from seeing Mitch play, he said, ‘He is our guy.’ He said that he is not going to be the strongest arm in the conference, he is not going to be the best-hitting catcher in the SEC. What he has is an imagination. He has a brilliant baseball mind, and an incredibly high baseball IQ to be able to break down the game. I almost wish that everyone could make a mound visit and listen to the way he breaks down the guys walking to the plate. It’s to the point now that when I make a mound visit, I say, ‘OK, Mitch, tell me what you got.’ He breaks it down and I will add some things to it, usually not a tremendous amount extra. He is an extraordinary young man. And then you couple that with his ability to will somebody, or to coach them into the strike ball with a fastball, breaking ball, with movement. He understands mechanics of every single one of our guys on the mound. It is special. This is not being critical of any of our catchers. I think that we have two other catchers that can play for a lot of people. It is just hard to take a guy out of a game who is like an extension of your coaching staff. We can’t win the Southeastern Conference Tournament, six days, without Mitch behind the plate. I don’t care if he gets a hit. What he does for our club you just can’t measure.

Those remarks speak pretty highly of Slauter. Considering how much work he puts into his craft, and how well he has done with his most important job: handling (a remarkable) pitching staff, it’s a wonder how he’s been able to hit .225. But still, he has come up with some big hits throughout the year. Even in the SEC Tournament he scored the winning runs in both games against LSU…he also had 4 hits in his last 7 at-bats of the SEC Tourney – getting stronger when you’d think he’d be wearing down.

Mitch Slauter has been a solid player all year for Mississippi State. He’ll be called upon again this weekend during the Regionals to continue playing well behind the plate.

I’m not sure I really agree with how the NCAA baseball tournament is selected, and formatted. MSU was sent to the #3 overall seed’s Regional (Florida State). That’s not really fair to either team is it? Mississippi State ended the year ranked #14 by Baseball America. If an ‘S’ curve was done, FSU would be playing the 30th ranked team and MSU would be hosting the 19th ranked team.

But throw logic out the window and do everything through a RPI prism, throw in some politics and concentrate on geographical considerations and there you have it…

How there are 5 ACC teams, 4 PAC 12 teams and only 3 SEC teams hosting I don’t know. The conference that is dominating everyone is getting put down by folks with SEC-fatigue. Unfortunately, the NCAA offices are in Indianapolis, Indiana.

But whoever you’re matched up with, you have to beat them. And if you’re going to be a champion, you have to beat everyone I guess. So that brings me to my next point…the format.

A 4-team, double elimination Regional is not the way to go. Take UCLA, the #2 overall seed, has to face one of the top pitchers in the country when they play Creighton in Game 1. Is the rest of Creighton’s team really good enough to compete with UCLA – probably not. But for one game they can throw their ace and upset the Bruins to send them into the loser’s bracket where they’d have to win 4 in a row to advance. After playing a season full of baseball, you get beat by one guy? That’s baseball, but that’s why the 4-team double elimination Regional is no good.

I like schools hosting Regionals…and I like the 4-team format. I’d just like to see it start on Wednesday with best 2 out of 3. Take Mississippi State’s bracket. I’d like to see Game 1 vs. Samford, in Tallahassee, on Wednesday; Game 2 on Thursday and Game 3 if necessary on Friday. Say the Bulldogs and Seminoles advance, they’d play Game 1 on Saturday and Game 2 on Sunday. If a Game 3 is necessary then skip Monday and play it on Tuesday…winner moves on to the Super Regional the next Friday.

I think this would be the best way to go because you would not be left for dead after facing one great pitcher from a lesser ‘team’. And if the concern is that you’ll be using the 4th and 5th starters for the 2nd 3-game series, then sweep the first one and use your 3rd and 4th starters! If the second, and ‘bigger’ series goes to a Game 3, then both teams can throw their ace on 5 days rest…and he could be ready for Game 3 of a Super Regional on 4 days rest.

Anyway, I’m just throwing stuff out there. At least if the selection process would be tinkered with a little I think it would be better. Bottom line, MSU is headed to Tallahassee to face Samford on Friday morning/afternoon…I’m ready.

After winning the SEC Tournament the Diamond Dawgs earned a 2 seed Florida State’s Regional bracket. FSU is the #3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. State will play Samford in the first game at 11:00 am on Friday.

MSU has had some great success against the ‘Noles in Regional play. Florida State was ranked 3rd in the country when they came to Starkville in 1990 and fell victim to Burke Masters and the #18 Bulldogs. In 2007, State went to Tally and beat #6 overall seed FSU – sweeping through the Regional.

On the other side of the bracket is Stanford’s Palo Alto Regional. As in ’07, if the Dawgs are able to win in Tallahassee they could host a Super Regional if Stanford is unable to win theirs.

Happy Memorial Day! It’s this time of year when you start sniffing around those newsstands for the college football preview magazines. Those, of course, come about three months too early and get folks like me way too pumped up about football season. But, let’s talk about some anyway.

The hot seat in the SEC is somewhere almost everyone will eventually be. You can start the season on the hot seat and end it with a contract extension. On the other hand, you can start out safe and be fired in December. Here is where I see the SEC coaches heading into 2012…

1. Derek Dooley – Tennessee has some talent, but not like they’re used to. And the Vols certainly aren’t anywhere near where they should be. If Dooley can’t get at least 7 wins, and probably 8 – he is gone.

2. Joker Phillips – He is also heading into year 3 (like Dooley). While expectations at Kentucky aren’t all that high, the Wildcats seem to be moving backwards….and that’s no good.

3. John L. Smith – I’m not sure if you can really classify an interim coach as on the ‘hot seat’, but since he’s coaching for his job I will. Chances are he will not be the Arkansas coach in 2013 unless he is able to reach 10 wins with this team.

4. Mark Richt – He was able to make his way off the hot seat (temporarily). Dawg fans are thirsty for a national championship – and they are expecting big things this year. He has lost nearly half the fanbase…anything less than a Eastern division title may be the end of the line.

(past this line I don’t think there’s any chance of these coaches being fired after 2012 – outside of a scandal)
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5. Will Muschamp – Gator fans are willing to give him a reprieve for last season, but they won’t be patient for long.

6. Dan Mullen – State fans are hungry for more than a .500 season. Win 8 again and beat Ole Miss and we’ll be eating out of his hand once again.

7. Les Miles – How could a coach who has won a national championship, 2 SEC championships and was national runner-up last year be this high? He’s Les Miles, and his offensive gameplan in the BCS Title Game.

8. Gene Chizik – Can he win without Gus Malzahn? Can he win big without Cam Newton? Tubbs got fired only four years after going undefeated so watch out.

9. Hugh Freeze – He’s in his first year. But look for Bear fans to start feeling uneasy come Thanksgiving.

10. Steve Spurrier – He’s the best thing to ever happen to South Carolina football.

11. James Franklin – One more bowl game and he’ll be the best thing to ever happen to Vanderbilt football.

12. Nick Saban – 55-6 over the last 4 years including two national championships….maybe he’ll retire early.

MSU finished off Vanderbilt today, 3-0, to capture the SEC Tournament Championship! It was a great week of baseball.

This Mississippi State team is the true definition of team. It’s so great to watch them, especially since they are the opposite of this past year’s basketball team which frustrated us all beyond belief. They have taken on the personality of their coach, John Cohen; tough, gritty, scrapping for a win. Today’s game was a perfect example: score three runs on a wild pitch, walk with the bases loaded and a sacrifice fly..add in great pitching and it’s a solid win.

There is only one way for a team like State to win, and that’s to play as they have. When your star players are a pitcher (Chris Stratton) and a singles hitter (Adam Frazier), scrapping for every run is a necessity…especially when everyone else is below .300, and most below .250.

Frazier made his way to first base seemingly every time up in the tournament. Everyone else was hit or miss, but it seemed like everyone in the lineup came up big at least once..

Brent Brownlee successfully sacrifice bunted at least 300 times. Hunter Renfroe had a big assist vs. LSU the first time and a big RBI the second time. Trey Porter had an RBI, Mitch Slauter caught every single inning through six straight day games and came up with a few hits including a double vs. LSU which led to him scoring the winning run. DeMarcus Henderson drove in the go-ahead run vs. LSU and made a great catch in left field – he also got a base knock and came around to score one of the two runs vs. Kentucky. Wes Rea hit a moster 3-run shot vs. Arkansas, drive in Henderson vs. UK and played solid D. Sam Frost had a few hits and teamed with Frazier to turn a bunch of double plays. Norris came up with several hits including a key one during the 9th inning of Friday’s LSU game. Matthew Britton played great as a defensive replacement and of course had the game winning hit Friday. Pollorena, oh Pollorena!

All of this goes without saying how great the pitching was. It allowed the offense to only generate 13 runs in the last 5 games and still win 4 of them. Woodruff was great in game 1 and 6, Stratton in game 2, Graveman battled injury but did well in game 3. Spot starts for Lindgren and Pollorena were successful and the bullpen was absolutely incredible. Caleb Reed and Ben Bracewell combined for 11 1/3 and only gave up two runs. No runs given up by Ross Mitchell (9 2/3!), Nick Routt and of course Johnathon Holder who also picked up 4 saves…and Stratton had a save of his own today.

State isn’t just winning, they are beating some of the best teams in the nation. Coming off a sweep of #4 Kentucky, MSU beat #25 Arkansas, #2 LSU twice, #11 UK and Vanderbilt – a team who had won 9 in a row. We may not get to host a Regional but I am pumped to watch them play more ball! Hail State!

I love baseball, but I’ve always got one eye on football season. And here goes with some football talk.

After reading the comments of many a college football writer, I’ve come to a point where I think I see how they view certain teams in the SEC from a national standpoint. When the first AP poll comes out in August, where will these teams be? Who will be close? Who will be an afterthought? Here’s what I’ve come up with…a power rankings of sort – but not my opinion, just how I think these teams will be viewed by the guys who have a vote..

1. LSU – likely #1 team in the country

2. Alabama – Top 5

3. Georgia –  Top 10

4. South Carolina – Top 10

5. Arkansas – Top 15

6. Florida – others receiving votes

7. Auburn – others receiving votes

8. Mississippi State – others receiving votes

9. Tennessee – others receiving votes

10. Vanderbilt – pretty far off

11. Kentucky – far off

12. Ole Miss – very far off

If you missed the game vs. LSU on Friday afternoon you missed a great one. State beat the #2 Tigers for the second time in three days, 4-3.

The whole time I’m watching this game I was scratching my head at the moves John Cohen was making. First, he starts Jacob Lindgren, a freshman (1st career start) over Evan Mitchell. That seemed to backfire with 3 runs in the first two innings but he settled down from there and ended up pitching 4 2/3 with only the 3 runs.

Then when Cohen decided to take Lindgren out, he did so on a 0-2 count with 2 outs in the inning. He is the only coach I have ever seen do this. But it seems to work so what the hay.

In the bottom of the 9th, Wes Rea hit a double to lead off the inning with State down 3-1. Cohen sends Matthew Britton in to pinch-run…I’m hollerin’ at the TV because Rea may be slow but he’s on 2nd base and won’t hold anyone up, his run doesn’t mean anything and he’s our only 1st baseman. After Frost made an out Daryl Norris got a hit and Brent Brownlee came in to run for him. Now I’m about to throw my shoe at the TV because we’re wasting Brownlee there when Britton should have been the one running for Norris. After Frazier (who is awesome by the way) gets a hit and Fullerton gets hit, Luis Pollorena (3 at bats all year) comes up – he had pinch-run for Trey Porter in the 8th. My hands are on my head as we realize Brownlee could be hitting if Cohen would’ve listened to me from 200 miles away. But Pollorena lifts one into centerfield for a sacrifice fly. Wow.

At this point I’m amazed, and wondering what the lineup card could possibly look like. Instead of discussing the lineup changes with the ump between innings, Cohen does so at a couple of different points during the bottom of the 10th. I have a feeling this was done to take the LSU pitcher out of rhythm. I say this because Cohen is always calling timeout to talk to the hitters for God knows why. But hey, it works! Mitch Slauter, who only had one hit in the tournament so far, rips a double…then .149 hitting Matthew Britton (keep in mind if I had gotten my way it would be Wes Rea) gets a base hit to win the game.

Ok, ok. No, I don’t get all the bunts, pitching changes, timeouts, substitutions, etc…but it doesn’t matter if I get it, it is working. Big time. This team is a lot of fun to watch. Go Dawgs!

So well done Georgia, they will now be able to show their true colors on and off the field…