Mississippi State head softball coach Jay Miller is a patient man. He is trying to create a patient team, and the lack of it is the team’s main problem right now, he said.Miller said the Bulldogs (17-4) have had a great start to the season, but he still wishes those four losses would have been wins. MSU is coming off a 3-2 showing at the NFCA Leadoff Classic with losses to Michigan and UC-Santa Barbara by a combined five runs.
“I feel really good about where we are,” Miller said. “We have had excellent pitching and good defense, and I think our hitting is going to come around.”
According to Miller, the key problem the team is facing right now is generating offense from the middle of the lineup. He said the players are very anxious at the plate and not being patient enough.
Miller is exercising his own patience with the offense, however, and believes the team will come around offensively soon.
Senior outfielder Hayle Guess agreed and admitted she is one of those middle-of-the-lineup strugglers right now.
“I’m one of those people who hasn’t been hitting as well as I can,” Guess said. “We just have to hit like we know how. It’s not something we’re doing wrong, it’s purely a mental approach that we have to get back on track.”
The team is currently batting .292 overall, compared to the opponents’ .207. MSU has outscored its opponents 107-40 this season, but the 40 is more impressive than the 107.
MSU’s trio of pitchers, Kelsey Nurnberg, Elizabeth Woolven and Misty Flesher, have a combined ERA of 1.47, compared to the 3.86 of opponents. The three have a combined strikeout total of 92, up from only 84 of opposing pitchers, which is evidence as to how anxious the MSU lineup is at the plate.
The defense is also carrying the Bulldogs. MSU holds a .977 fielding percentage, having only made 14 errors so far this season. MSU’s opponents have committed 32 errors.
This weekend, Mississippi State welcomes three out-of-state teams to do battle in the Bulldog Classic, which returns for its fourth edition, having taken a one-year hiatus last season.
Today, the Bulldogs take on Charleston Southern (6-12) and Louisiana Tech (10-10) in 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. games.
Tomorrow at 2 p.m., MSU will take on familiar foe Austin Peay (1-2), which the Bulldogs defeated 12-4 on Feb. 23. The Lady Govs have had a trying season so far, having had several games cancelled and postponed due to weather.
“It’s been a bad spring for us weather-wise,” Austin Peay head coach Jim Perrin said. “So far, we’ve been able to reschedule all the games we’ve postponed, but we’re getting close to running out of any dates for make ups.”
MSU closes out the classic with a 4 p.m. contest with Charleston-Southern on Saturday and then a 2 p.m. contest against Louisiana Tech Sunday, followed by a 4 p.m. game against Austin Peay.
“All three teams are going to be similar as far as their level of play,” Miller said. “It should be a similar tournament we saw in Mercer a few weeks ago.”
After the Bulldog Classic, MSU will begin SEC play Tuesday and Wednesday with a trip to Auburn.
MSU currently sits ranked No. 18 in the nation, but when it comes to the SEC, there is hardly any team that isn’t at least getting national attention. Six of the 11 SEC schools that participate in softball received votes in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll, and the other five have winning records. The closest team to a .500 record is Kentucky, who sits at 9-7 on the year.
“The SEC is the top conference in the country this season,” Miller said. “Even teams that have struggled in the past are having success this season. The quality of competition from top to bottom in the SEC is stronger than it’s ever been.”
Guess said that though the SEC is going to be tough this year, she doesn’t expect the team to treat the upcoming games differently than it has any other game so far.
“I don’t see a whole lot of change going from non-conference play into SEC play,” Guess said. “Our team does a good job realizing that every game is important.”
Miller said that though the team emphasizes going into every single game with the same attitude and determination, he admits that the level of play kicks up a notch when conference play begins.
“The girls know they’re in for a battle,” Miller said. “They have to bring their A-game, or they’re not going to be successful.