Time Change for Game 1 gives Mississippi State Baseball Best Chance to Win
The Mississippi State Baseball team announced a switch in game times for the Starkville Regional on Friday to give the team the best chance to win.
When the Regional participants were announced, the Mississippi State baseball team was supposed to play in the evening game at 6:30 p.m. Then there was a change in plans announced Monday night.
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SCHEDULE UPDATE | Make plans to join us at Dudy Noble Field on Friday at 1:30 p.m. #HailState pic.twitter.com/1OZ1OJhUx5
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) May 31, 2016
This news was not met with open arms. Many people, myself included, were pondering why the change was made.
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I was sent a message from someone who has played a role in the past with game time decisions about why the change was made. In the message, I was told Cohen was given advice from another SEC coach about the advantages of playing early on Friday instead of in the evening.
We got some confirmation why Mississippi State baseball coach John Cohen made this decision. Here is what Bob Carskadon reported earlier today.
1. Ensures MSU pre-game BP on its own field 2. In case of storms, prevents late night or Saturday DH 3. MSU gets to scout all opponents live
— Bob Carskadon (@bobcarskadon) May 31, 2016
Bob went on to write a full blog post about it which you can find here. He explains in a little further detail why the change was made, and the fact Scott Stricklin and John Cohen both understand that this is more difficult on fans, but want to give the team every opportunity to win.
This still isn’t good enough for some fans. There are many who are still not satisfied with the time change.
again sadly our great fans were counting on a Friday night game. Thousands can make 1:30
— Mike Walker (@MikeWalker03) May 31, 2016
Our fans supporting Cohen's decision about the 1:30 start are in the same league as the Ole Miss fans defending Freeze.
— Steve Kean 🏴☠️ (@dawgsmack) May 31, 2016
From what I could tell though, these sentiments were in the minority. Most people seemed to support the idea of giving the Mississippi State baseball team every chance they could to win.
Whether or not you agree with John Cohen, it is clear he believes that the team is in a better chance to win the entire regional by playing on Friday afternoon instead of Friday evening. And it is his job to put his team in the best position possible to win the entire regional.
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The Mississippi State Baseball program has benefited from a lot of the decisions the coaching staff has made this season. I think it will help the team out this weekend even if it causes some consternation among fans who had their travel plans altered or inconvenienced.