The Mississippi State Baseball team found a way to win for the first time after their ace Dakota Hudson continued to struggle for the third straight outing.
One of the keys for the Mississippi State baseball team entering the 2016 season was Dakota Hudson. The Bulldogs needed him to be a lock-down Friday night starter who could match the other team’s ace pitch for pitch.
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And for the first half of the season, Dakota Hudson was exactly that. He was easily the best pitcher in the country for the first half of the season. Recently, he’s been very hittable.
Through the first half of the season, Hudson was dominant. He carried the Mississippi State baseball pitching staff with 0.92 ERA, 4-1 record, and a 56-18 strikeout to walk ratio. The Bulldogs needed dominance, and Hudson was exactly that.
But the last three outings, Hudson has been less than mediocre. Here’s an example of the contrast between his first half and his second half.
Hudson's 1st 3 SEC games: 25.0 IP, 16 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 24 K.
— Robbie Faulk (@robbiefaulk247) April 23, 2016
Last 3: 18.1 IP, 30 H, 16 ER, 6 BB, 14 K.
That’s a 7.96 ERA and 2.54 WHIP. If you’re unfamiliar with WHIP, it stands for walks and hits per inning pitched. It gives an idea on how much a pitcher is pitching in difficult situations. 1.50 is considered average, while anything below 1.25 is considered pretty good.
In the previous two difficult outing for the Mississippi State baseball team, the Bulldogs were defeated. Doing so put the club in a difficult position for the rest of the weekend.
Against the Florida Gators, MSU was able to rally on Saturday and Sunday. They pounded the Gator pitching staff on Saturday, and outpitched Florida on Sunday to win the series two games to one.
Mississippi State baseball saw the toll losing on Friday night can have against Texas A&M. The Aggies set the tone for the series and ending up sweeping the Bulldogs.
But against LSU, the Bulldogs figured out a way around their ace’s sub par performance. After building up a 9-4 lead, Hudson loaded the bases before giving way to Ryan Rigby in the seventh. Rigby gave up a grand slam to his first batter which meant three more runs were charged to Hudson, and the Mississippi State baseball team went from a comfortable lead of five to a narrow one.
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But the bats continued to battle. They scored three more runs, had Reid Humphreys come up big when brought in to a bases loaded situation himself, and won a hard fought 12-8 game that could have gone the way of the Tigers.
On the Mississippi State baseball SEC schedule, the Bulldogs will have played five teams that appear to be strong likelihoods for NCAA tournament REgionals. Those teams are Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Florida, Texas A&M, and LSU. Combined against those five teams (plus a team that has a feint hope of getting in the NCAA tournament in Georgia), Hudson has a 3.32 ERA, 3-2 win loss record, and stuck out 38 hitters compared to just nine walks.
Those numbers as a whole are really solid as a whole against the much more difficult SEC competition. The concerning part is the fact Hudson has struggled three straight outings.
The good news for Dakota Hudson and Mississippi State baseball fans is Hudson has a chance to get back on his game in his last four outings. Alabama, Missouri, Auburn, and Arkansas is a combination of three bad teams and one mediocre one. Hudson can and should be able to shut their bats down, and register wins in every outing assuming the Bulldogs can hit the way they are capable to give Dakota Hudson wins. In the process, his confidence should be restored.
The bigger picture question for Hudson is which version of him will show up against the best opposition in the country. In the post season, Hudson will face lineups that will be among the best in the country. He has to give the Bulldogs a chance to win these games.
He’s perfectly capable of doing so. If he can pitch like he did against Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, the Bulldogs will make a deep run in the postseason. If he pitches like he did against Florida, Texas A&M, and LSU, the Bulldogs might not make it out of a regional.
More bulldogs: Current Expectations for Mississippi State Baseball
Most believed the 2016 Mississippi State baseball season would mirror the production of its ace pitcher. The first six weeks of SEC play have shown how true this was going to be for the Bulldogs.