Mississippi State Baseball Names Starting Pitching Rotation for First Weekend of SEC Play Against Georgia
Mississippi State baseball has announced its weekend rotation heading into the first weekend of SEC play.
With Friday-night ace Landon Sims out for the season with a UCL tear, the Diamond Dawgs have had to play around with the bullpen to see who could take his place. This weekend, Mississippi State will start Preston Johnson on Friday, Parker Stinnett on Saturday and Cade Smith on Sunday.
Johnson served as a reliever last season, but he has been in MSU's starting rotation since the beginning of the 2022 season. Although he has typically started on Saturdays, he has been dominant enough to move up into Sims' position. Johnson has a 2-0 record on the year with a 2.82 ERA, 15 hits and seven runs scored. He has also tallied 33 strikeouts while walking only nine.
Stinnett is the pitcher who will take over the empty starting role-- although it will be on Saturday in response to Johnson being moved up. He had a shaky start to the season as a reliever but has done extremely well when given the opportunity to start. Stinnett has pitched 6.2 innings of relief in which he has given up six runs on eight hits with four walked batters and 12 strikeouts. On the other hand, he has struck out 24 while giving up two runs on five hits in the two games he has started against Texas Tech and Princeton.
Smith has consistently served as the team's Sunday starter for the entirety of the season, and that doesn't look to change anytime soon. The sophomore has pitched 22 innings through four games with only 14 hits and six runs scored. Smith has also struck out 23 while walking only six. Despite being the least-experienced pitcher in the weekend's starting rotation, he has held his own and is making a name for himself quite early in the season.
Mississippi State will kick off SEC play against Georgia on Friday in Athens. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT.