Dakota Hudson and Austin Sexton Make Bulldogs Tough to Beat
Dakota Hudson and Austin Sexton have combined to make the Mississippi State Bulldogs one of the toughest teams in the SEC to beat in a three game series.
When the 2016 began, we were told repeatedly that the Bulldogs were about to rely heavily on Dakota Hudson and Austin Sexton to carry the bulk of the work of the pitching staff. This was a bit of a head scratcher to most MSU fans.
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Austin Sexton spent most of the 2015 season as the Saturday or Sunday starter. He looked good at times, but there were times he was hammered by the opposing pitchers. While he might not have been seen as a difference maker a season ago, there was reason to believe he could progress into a much more effective pitcher in 2016.
But Dakota Hudson was a different story. Hudson had barely logged any innings in his first two seasons in Maroon and White, but he was all of a sudden supposed to be the Friday night ace of an SEC West team?
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Mississippi State fans only heard second hand of the development of Hudson over the summer in the Cape Cod League. Dakota Hudson has always had electric stuff, but he never had command of it until now. Things finally started to click for the talented right-hander this summer, and he added a nasty cutter. Now Hudson is one of the best pitchers in the SEC and possibly in the country.
While he hasn’t garnered as much attention as Hudson, Austin Sexton has made improvements in his game to give the Mississippi State baseball team a much needed one-two punch. Sexton won’t draw the praise Dakota Hudson will, but he would be a borderline Friday night starter fir most teams in the SEC. It’s a huge advantage to have such quality arms going on Friday and Saturday.
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Dakota Hudson and Austin Sexton have combined to go 7-2 in 14 starts. Their combined ERA is 1.94 and have struck out 107 batters in 94 innings, and only 32 walks.
The only thing holding this team back is the lack of a pitcher to follow Dakota Hudson and Austin Sexton on Sundays. If the Bulldogs can ever find someone who can minimize the damage on Sundays, the sky is the limit for this team.