What we learned from Mississippi State baseball's series win vs. Northern Kentucky
Mississippi State baseball didn’t come into this season unaware of what the team would face each time it took the field. The Bulldogs knew winning a national championship would put a target on their back. Each opponent to enter Dudy Noble Field hopes to knock them down a peg.
It’s no different if it’s Long Beach State, a nationally-recognized program, or if it’s Northern Kentucky — the latter a team that allowed an average of 12.7 runs in a sweep to East Tennessee State.
Both can humble Mississippi State, as the Dirtbags showed by winning two of three last weekend and the Norse showed Friday by stealing the opening game of the weekend. Coach Chris Lemonis said that 7-6 loss was embarrassing, and Luke Hancock said he and his teammates were due for another discussion, the second just two weeks into the season.
“We had a talk last week after the Saturday Long Beach game, and I think we probably need to do the same thing,” Hancock said Friday. “We have to play better. That’s what Mississippi State’s about. You have to play good baseball.”
The Bulldogs recovered from that initial defeat to blow out Northern Kentucky in consecutive games, winning by a combined score of 17-3 on Saturday and Sunday. That’s more how Mississippi State envisioned this weekend looking, dominating an early season nonconference matchup.
But as the Norse showed, even the perceived tune-up games can be taxing, and 2022 will be full of plenty more tests. Here’s what stood out from Mississippi State’s second weekend.
SERIES-OPENING LOSS: Mississippi State baseball's uneven start to 2022 continues with series-opening loss to Northern Kentucky
FIRST WEEKEND: What we learned from Mississippi State baseball's opening series vs. Long Beach State
Sims is rocky, but the rotation looked strong
Preston Johnson thought he might puke.
The burly right-hander prepared for the first start of his career Saturday, entering the weekend rotation in place of KC Hunt. The change wasn’t a surprise. Hunt allowed five runs in three innings against Long Beach State while Johnson allowed one in four innings of relief work.
But the promotion was daunting regardless of his strong performance last week.
He didn’t end up puking. Instead, Johnson made a strong impression, seemingly locking his place in the rotation for the foreseeable future after allowing two hits and one run in 6⅓ innings. The performance gave Mississippi State a platform to rebound from Friday’s loss, setting Cade Smith up for another steady performance Sunday — allowing an unearned run in five innings.
More questions came from right-hander Landon Sims, who dazzled in his starting debut against the Dirtbags to the tune of 13 strikeouts and one run. But his fastball didn’t overpower Northern Kentucky as it did Long Beach State, leaving him with four runs (one earned) and six hits in five innings — and his second loss in as many starts.
The rockier start from Sims shouldn’t dictate what he does moving forward, just as his dominant performance a week ago won’t be repeated each time he trots to the mound. So at the end of the second weekend, there were still positives from the rotation, particularly Johnson and Smith.
Brad Cumbest’s power surge
With one swing, Brad Cumbest unlocked the bats this weekend for Mississippi State. With two men on in the third inning Saturday, a three-run home run to left field gave the Bulldogs a lead, igniting an offense that had been dormant a day earlier.
The left fielder followed up that act Sunday with a two-run homer in the third — his second long ball of the season. Cumbest broke out this weekend, combining Saturday and Sunday for five RBIs while going 4-for-6 at the plate.
That sort of production has been infrequent up and down the batting order. But Cumbest’s breakout could solve some of those scuffles.
Batting order experiments
After Mississippi State managed four hits in Friday’s outing, Lemonis rotated his lineup on Saturday and Sunday, experimenting early in the season. It saw Tanner Leggett in the order for two straight games, making the most of his fielding versatility to keep his bat in the mix.
And it inserted Aaron Downs for his Mississippi State debut in right field Sunday. The Heritage Academy product marked his first appearance with two hits, including a two-run single in his first at-bat.
This is the time of year for Lemonis to rotate his players, finding which combinations are most effective. They haven’t always worked, with a one-hit game in the season opener that made Lemonis want to pluck a new lineup out of a hat. But it seems to be taking shape.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: What we learned from Mississippi State baseball's series vs. Northern Kentucky
