Unpacking Mississippi State baseball's shaky opening weekend series win against VMI

STARKVILLE — If the opening weekend at Dudy Noble Field was indicative of the year ahead for Mississippi State baseball, preseason expectations could be spot-on. The MSU offense is built for explosive outings, but pitching could create some agonizing afternoons.

Mississippi State took two of three against Virginia Military Institute, capped by a 9-3 win Sunday − though a tightly contested series against a team with an all-time winning percentage below .400 isn’t the sign of a program less than two years removed from a national title.

The season opener on Friday saw Mississippi State (2-1) secure an 11-2 win behind big nights from second baseman Amani Larry and designated hitter Bryce Chance in their debuts. It appeared MSU was on its way toward another easy victory Saturday with a 10-1 lead, but VMI (1-2) pulled off a stunning 14-13 comeback win behind 12 walks and seven hits.

The Bulldogs took the finale behind a pair of home runs from outfielder Kellum Clark and a productive outing from starter Landon Gartman.

"Everybody on the team understands what we're about and what we go through every day," Clark said of MSU responding after the loss. "Everybody on the team has put in a lot of work for this season. Everybody on the team knows what we want to do today, tomorrow and through the rest of the whole year. We want to win."

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Amani Larry: Welcome to Starkville

For the second consecutive season, Mississippi State entered the year with a transfer starting at second base. However, if Larry has a season close to what RJ Yeager provided last year, it’ll be a promising trend.

Larry, a New Orleans transfer, got off to a good start with four hits in his debut Friday and a pair of hits Saturday. He capped his weekend with two-run home run and two-run single on Sunday − the latter coming in the eighth inning to open the game up.

KC Hunt’s start spirals

KC Hunt earned an opening weekend start for the second straight weekend, and it went poorly. He threw two innings on Saturday, allowing five runs on one hit and six walks.

The arms behind him offered little help in slowing down VMI’s comeback hopes. Parker Stinnett allowed a run in 1⅔ innings, Tyler Davis allowed two runs in 2⅓ innings and Colby Holcombe allowed three runs while only retiring one hitter.

Mississippi State pitchers allowed as many walks as they recorded strikeouts.

Jurrangelo Cijntje highlights Sunday debuts

For the concerns Saturday’s pitching brought, Sunday’s rotation offered some hope.

Gartman, a Memphis transfer, allowed three runs in five innings of work. However, the two runs he allowed in the third inning were aided by two infield hits and a failed fielder’s choice.

"He's just calm and cool," MSU coach Chris Lemonis said. "He's the old guy. He's one of our older veterans − shoot, he's married. He's just pitched and won a lot of games."

Gartman was followed by the pitcher MSU fans have been waiting to see all weekend. Switch-pitching freshman Jurrangelo Cijntje made his debut in the sixth inning, though he only threw from the right side after sleeping on his left wrist. He pitched a scoreless frame − striking out the first batter he faced and working around two hits.

Freshman left-handed pitcher Bradley Loftin worked a scoreless seventh inning in which he picked-off a runner to help overcome a leadoff walk.

What’s next?

Mississippi State’s pitching will be put to the test with five games this week. It starts with a pair of midweek games against Louisiana-Monroe before a weekend series against Arizona State.

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @skrajisnik3.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Unpacking Mississippi State baseball's opening series win against VMI