A cutter left over the plate followed by the sweet motion of a swing propelling the ball over the center field wall, scored the go ahead runs as No. 6 Mississippi State University (28-6) won 7-5 over the University of South Alabama (14-18).
Tanner Allen, a sophomore infielder from Theodore, Alabama, sent a rocket on Wednesday night that traveled 410 feet, with an exit velocity of 104 mph and a launch angle of 21 degrees to score three runs.
Allen said he knew it was gone when it left the bat, and that home run, along with total hits and five runs batted in, seemed to launch Allen out of a slump he has been in for a month.
“I’ve been struggling for about a month, and last weekend on Sunday I was like, ‘Man just relax, enjoy the game,'” Allen said. “I’m blessed to be at this program and be supported by all of these people. You have a coaching staff and teammates who are always behind you and supporting you.”
Slumps are a part of baseball. Allen said there were times where he may have been over zealous at the plate, but he has tried to keep his mindset to one pitch and one swing at a time in order to help the team win.
“Big picture, I could go zero for four, and if we win the game, it isn’t about me, it’s about us,” Allen said. “That is what is different about this team. That is how everybody is. It doesn’t matter who is having a bad night, someone is always going to be there to help us out.”
It is spring time, which means the weather is warm, the wind changes and all of those can affect how a ball park like Dudy Noble Field plays as the ball seems to carry more in warm air.
Head coach Chris Lemonis said, while in batting practice, they noticed the stadium played more offensively than defensively and is why both teams were able to slug two home runs in the contest.
“I think that wind coming across there were a lot of home runs hit in BP for both teams,” Lemonis said. “The balls were carrying to the right too. It was one of those days were you felt the ball was carrying. The wind was pushing it that way and the warm weather (helped it too). There were some missiles hit by both sides tonight.”
Allen is coming out of his slump just in time for Super Bulldog Weekend. It will be his second Super Bulldog Weekend in his career. The new Dude is finished, so Allen said he is not sure how he can describe what he expects from the weekend.
“I can only imagine, the stadium is already done,” Allen said. “Alabama has a good program, and they are going to be coming to town. Football has a a big spring game Saturday, and it’s going to be fun.”
Lemonis said the biggest crowd he has ever coached in front of was 23,000 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha when he was a coach at the University of Louisville. While the Dudy Noble Field can not hold exactly that much, he said he is hoping it will be full for the weekend.
“We have a good opponent coming, and I would like to see us pack the house,” Lemonis said.
