What we learned about Mississippi State baseball after opening weekend

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State hasn’t lost in 2019.

The Bulldogs bullied their way to a series sweep of Youngstown State at Dudy Noble Field this weekend. The combined score of all three games was 36-5. Here’s what we learned about head coach Chris Lemonis’ team.

The firepower is for real

Mississippi State smashed five home runs in three games. Sophomore first baseman Tanner Allen had two of them. Allen had 13 RBI and had a batting average of .538. He wasn’t the only Bulldog slugging the ball all weekend.

The team got production from every slot in the lineup. Senior center-fielder Jake Mangum had four hits and 2 RBI throughout the weekend, and that was on the low-end in terms of production throughout Mississippi State's lineup. 

The 3-4-5 hitters – sophomore shortstop Jordan Westburg, Allen and senior right-fielder Elijah MacNamee – went 17-of-34 from the plate with 22 RBI. Allen said it's easy to knock in runs when he has runners in scoring position practically every time he steps to the plate. 

"When you got guys hitting in front of you like Mangum, Rowdey (Jordan) and Westburg, you get a lot of opportunities to get some RBI's," Allen said. "I took advantage of that this weekend." 

Allen attributed the offensive outburst to sophomores like himself having much more experience than they did at this time last season. But even a newcomer like freshman catcher Hayden Jones was able to launch a ball 400 feet over the right field wall. 

Jones said he got the chills when the lights at Dudy Noble Field started to flicker as he rounded second base. With the power he showed on that hit and Lemonis' willingness to give the freshman some starts behind the plate, he could force those lights to flicker more times throughout the season – especially with the support he's receiving from his teammates. 

"It's really nice knowing the guys are there for you," Jones said. "Just having Jake talking to me before the at-bat like, 'Hey, you're going to get your first hit.' It was one of those positive things that all the guys are there for you and everything."

Mississippi State has the hitters to put up video game-like numbers based on talent alone, but if everybody buys in the way Lemonis wants them to then opening weekend could be a precursor for what the Bulldogs will do all season. 

"You got nine guys who can hit the ball out of the ballpark whenever they want," Allen said. "It's a really good lineup." 

"Putting them together as a group right now and playing as a unit, you're seeing some guys do some special things," Lemonis said. 

The starting rotation looks strong

All three of Mississippi State's starters pitched exactly five innings. All three were efficient in doing so, too. 

Junior Ethan Small threw 74 pitches, freshman J.T. Ginn needed 68 and junior Keegan James hurled 73. The trio combined for 24 strikeouts, of which Small had the most with a career-high 11. 

They only combined to walk three batters. Small didn't give up any free passes. Ginn's only command issues came in the first inning when he hit a batter and gave up a two-run homer. He said he was a little "amped" in the first inning but he was pleased with the way he settled down after that. 

"He was really getting into a grove by the fourth or fifth inning," Lemonis said. "It was good to see him getting out there and having success." 

Outside of Ginn's first inning mishap, Small was the only starting pitcher who had to work with a deficit all weekend. He allowed two runs in the fourth inning of his start, and State wasn't able to get on the board until the sixth inning of that game. 

Otherwise, Mississippi State gave their guys more than ample run support in all three games. It helped James in the finale, as Lemonis said he had good velocity and an improved curve ball. And it surely helped Ginn, who said pitching with a large lead allowed him to break out his nasty breaking ball en route to fanning seven batters in his first career start. 

"It definitely makes it easier when you can get out there and your guys can put up 13, 14 runs on the board," Ginn said. "It really does help. You can go out there and relax a little bit." 

The bullpen might be a strength

As good as the starters were, the bullpen might've been even better. Friday, seniors Peyton Plumlee and Cole Gordon and junior Colby White combined to pitch four innings in which they only gave up one run. They had seven strikeouts and only one walk. 

Plumlee was the most shaky of the bunch. He allowed the run and the walk and also had a wild pitch, but he went two innings compared to the other players' one. White, a junior college transfer, consistently touched the mid-90s with his fastball. 

During Saturday's double-header, seven Mississippi State relievers combined to pitch eight innings of shutout baseball. Over the eight frames, they only allowed four hits and had 12 strikeouts to just four walks. 

Another junior college transfer, Jack Eagan, was in the running to be in the weekend rotation. He threw two innings in the first game of the double-header and did not allow a hit. He also had four strikeouts and one walk. Lemonis needs to figure out who his midweek starters will be, and Eagan could surely be an option. 

Redshirt junior Spencer Price sat out the entire 2018 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but he made his return by closing out the first leg of the double-header. He struck out two of the five batters he faced. 

"It was emotional for him," Lemonis said. "It took a lot of him getting out there... Hopefully moving forward we can use him more and more. Boy, that slider is really good." 

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Contact Tyler Horka at thorka@gannett.com. Follow @tbhorka on Twitter.