CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A year ago, Chris Lemonis was tasked with finding a way to get Mississippi State back to reaching its heightened expectations.
The Bulldogs followed up the schools’ first team National Championship by putting together two miserable seasons in a row. Consecutive years of missing out on postseason altogether called for a changing of the guard at pitching coach and Lemonis had to find a way to change it.
While fans’ frustrations grew due to the length of time it took the coach to find his man, it was well worth the wait. South Carolina pitching coach Justin Parker has added something to State’s ball club that has made the Bulldogs a team to be feared again and Friday night’s game one of the Charlottesville Regional was a microcosm of an incredible turnaround.
Behind another dazzling start from ace Khal Stephen and a shutdown relief effort from Tyler Davis, State’s pitching gave the team a chance to do something special again. Lemonis knew that he made a great hire, but the addition of Stephen and the development of his pitchers continues to impress the head man.
“You’d like to envision it, but it’s just different guys and a different year. Khal is a strike-thrower and coach Parker has done a great job with that staff,” Lemonis said. “(Stephen) did an unbelievable job (Friday) and he’s just so efficient in the middle innings. He does it in all of his starts and it just gives us a chance late. He takes the ball for such a long time that it sets up the bullpen for the rest of the weekend.”
Just as he has done in almost every start this season, Stephen left the ball game putting State in position to win the ball game. He threw 99 pitches in 8.0 innings and gave up just two runs on seven hits while walking no one and striking out 10 batters.
It was just the second time this year that Stephen has pitched 8.0 innings and struck out 10 or more batters with the last being against Ole Miss earlier this year when he struck out 11 Rebels in his 8.0 frames.
The First-Team All-SEC starter is 8-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.28 while hitting the century mark in strikeouts. Stephen has now struck out 107 batters in 96.0 innings with just 21 walks.
Performances like Stephen create moments like the 10 inning. State’s offense has had its struggles this year but those haven’t been as magnified as they were the last two seasons because the unit has put them in position to stay in a ball game. Dakota Jordan’s home run was a prime example.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” Jordan said of his pitchers. “We always preach in the dugout that you’ve got to stay in the moment. You can’t get down on yourself and you’ve got to trust yourself to go out there and work.”
A season after earning Third-Team All-Big Ten honors, Stephen has become one of the best pitchers in the best league in America. He got a chance to go out on a big stage on Friday night and deliver State a game one win in the Charlottesville Regional and now the Bulldogs are in the winner’s bracket.
State now has the challenge of facing one of the best offenses in the country and combatting it with one of the best pitching staffs. The Bulldogs go head-to-head with host Virginia on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET with a top 12 staff ERA at 4.10 and 612 strikeouts to 206 walks in 526.2 innings.
Jurrangelo Cijntje has been equally as tough-minded and productive as Stephen and he will try to bring the same mindset as the Friday starter to the table on Saturday. State’s game one starter set the tone.
“It’s just a battle. Every time I’m out here that’s really all it is – me attacking their guys,” Stephen said. “Their starter had a great outing, and it was one of the best games today. I just wanted to keep battling. To give my team an opportunity was everything.”
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