Mississippi State's Hatcher comes through in pinch-hit opportunity
Jun. 23—Josh Hatcher has been through it all in his Mississippi State career, and the senior first baseman came through in one the biggest moments of the game on Tuesday night at the College World Series in Omaha.
Following Kellum Clark's two-run home run to cut the Virginia lead to 4-2, Hatcher pinch-hit for freshman Lane Forsythe and worked one of his best at-bats of the year.
He was down 1-2 in the count, but after fouling off a pitch, he slapped a hit into the outstretched arm of the Virginia shortstop, who wasn't able to throw him out at first for an infield single.
Rowdey Jordan followed with a double to left field, then Tanner Allen cranked the biggest home run of his career, a three-run home run that put MSU up, 5-4, and into a winner's bracket game on Friday.
"A lot of people are going to remember Rowdey's double and my home run, but I'm going to tell you one thing that won't go unnoticed Josh Hatcher's two-strike fight at the plate, to put the ball in play and get something started. That was big time," Allen said. "He hasn't got to play much lately, but I never doubted him."
Hatcher's infield single was his first hit since May 27, a single against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament. It was only his second hit since April 25 against Vanderbilt in Nashville.
Hatcher entered the 2021 season as a three-year starter and had helped lead Mississippi State to the College World Series in both 2018 and 2019, alongside senior teammates Jordan and Allen.
But after a mid-season slump that brought his batting average from .274 to .194, Hatcher was benched on May 1 and hasn't started a game since. He has served mostly as a defensive replacement late in games, while Luke Hancock is starting over him at first base and Kellum Clark is starting at designated hitter.
Neither of those players have hit bad enough to warrant being replaced, but Hatcher got his chance to pinch-hit for a slumping Forsythe and made the most of his opportunity.
"It's been a tough month for Josh, I'm sure, because in our BPs he's swinging it great," head coach Chris Lemonis said. "He had a slump earlier in the year, came out of the lineup and was struggling. ... He's not pouted or anything. That's why we have a great team. We have some selfless guys like that that let you keep playing and keep doing. And when his opportunity came, he got a huge hit for us."
Whether Hatcher gets another at-bat in the College World Series is yet to be seen, but Mississippi State has at least two more games to play, starting on Friday against the winner of No. 2 Texas and Virginia in the bracket final.
If he doesn't get another at-bat, he will continue to play his role on the team and serve as a defensive replacement.
He, along with Allen and Jordan who are in Omaha for the third time in their careers, just don't want to head back to Starkville empty-handed again.
"They came here to win it," Lemonis said of Hatcher, Allen and Jordan. "They've walked off this field and felt they could have done more. They're invested right now and they're playing great baseball. And we've just got to get our work in and let these guys just keep playing games.
"And the way they're playing, we have a chance to play for a while."
