The Dawg

Mississippi State Sports Blog

MSU VS Clemson

Filed Under Mississippi State Sports | Posted on June 8, 2007

I got this from the Baseball America website, I have no idea who wrote it.  It was obviously someone who has played us.

MISSISSIPPI STATE (36-20)Coach (Record at school): Ron Polk (1,114-555-2, 28 seasons).
CWS History: Seven trips to Omaha, last in 1998.
CWS Route: Won Tallahassee regional in three games, beating Florida State in final.

“They’re really veteran, Ron (Polk) redshirts a lot of guys their freshman year, he ends up having a lot of guys who are there five years. They’ve got a lot of seniors, guys who seem like they’ve been there forever. Even the redshirt freshmen have been there. It’s a veteran club, and they play well together. Their pitchers, there’s no dominant guy on the mound, not like there’s a guy that’s just a dominant guy.  Just a very average pitching staff. If you’re swinging it well you can hit them. They throw strikes.

“Jeffrey Rea seems like he’s been there forever at second base. I think they were last in the SEC in pitching this year. Just a lot of veteran guys that played and have been around. There’s not a superstar guy that really jumps out at you. Probably the most talented guy is Easley, the catcher. They’re just a solid club. I was not surprised that they won in Tallahassee at all, because they’re a veteran club that’s well put together. It’s not a team that’s like a Vanderbilt or Arkansas.

“Crosswhite is not (Mississippi’s) Lance Lynn. He’s not one of those guys. Their pitching numbers were terrible for most of the year. But to their credit, those guys got better and better as the year went on. Crosswhite is an 89-92, slurve guy. (Lefthander Justin) Pigott is low 80s, 82-85 with a plus-plus changeup. They’re just dudes, just guys. Josh Johnson’s got a good arm, just kind of a guy. Just a 90 guy. Weatherford, he’s their hardest thrower. He’s been their go-to guy. He’s legit 90-92, bumped 93 against us, with a slider, their hardest thrower. But they pound the zone, look at their walks to strikeouts, that’s the key.

“They’re not aggressive offensively. There’s nothing really that special. They’re solid, they just play. The thing about Mississippi State is it just depends when you catch them. They have the ability to go into Tallahassee and roll off three Ws. They’re not going to steal bases, there’s never been a Ron Polk team that steals bases. That’s not their M.O. They just pretty much sit back and play station to station. Rea can run and Goforth can run, but look at their numbers, they don’t steal a lot of bases. That’s not their style, they play station to station, base to base. If they’re hitting, they’re going to win. Clemson with their pitching, I don’t think it’s a tall task to stop them from hitting.

“It’s not hard to play there at all. They have big crowds, but they’re older. It’s not a hard place to play. Not a very vicious crowd. It’s a big crowd, but not vicious.”

CLEMSON (41-21)Coach (Record at school): Jack Leggett (649-280, 14 seasons).
CWS History: 11 trips to Omaha, last in 2006.
CWS Route: Won Myrtle Beach regional in three games, beating Coastal Carolina in the final.

“I’ll tell you this, I think they might have the best pitching remaining of the field. When you look at their ability to go with Moskos on Friday, Kopp on Saturday, and they can match up as they need to on Sunday with (righthander D.J.) Mitchell or the lefty (Ryan) Hinson, depending on matchup. They have two guys in bullpen who can be lights out. Maybe the only thing they didn’t show you is a lefty specialist, but with Hinson in the ‘pen, maybe they’ve addressed that.

“With Chalk in the lineup, Clemson’s a different team. He’s a run producer, he gets on base, a catalyst, tremendous experience– a three-year starter, been to Omaha. I think Clemson’s a team to be reckoned with. I think any time you lose a shortstop, especially a good one like Stan Widmann, any ballclub in college is going to scramble. College baseball, parity’s staring you in the face when you look at these matchups. It makes it much more difficult to overcome injuries. I think you saw them have to adjust and scramble, but in the end, this time of year, pitching wins games. They’ve got the pitching to win games, especially if D’Alessio and (shortstop Taylor) Harbin and Chalk do what they can do. To me their quiet hero is (catcher Doug) Hogan, if you took him from this team they’d really be in trouble. He’s gotten a lot of key hits and he catches games well.

“We saw Moskos, he was good. Reports I’ve gotten say his fastball has backed up as the season’s gone on. We saw him 90-94, with a good slider, good changeup, good curveball. Four good pitches. The fastball and slider can be overpowering. He’s a guy. I think they could possibly have the best pitching mix of any team left in the tournament. I think Clemson’s arms are better than (North) Carolina’s. Their pitching in a three-game series is a strength. Right now they’re slugging the bats well, but they’re very capable of winning a 3-2 game. I like their team, they play hard, and those two guys at the back of the bullpen, Clyne and (righty Alan) Farina, have plus stuff and aggression. Offensively, having Chalk back is huge, he sets the table, creates pressure on the defense, gives RBI opportunities to D’Alessio, Smith and Harbin. And don’t forget about Hogan, the quiet clutch guy, I think he’s the leader for them too. Good team, and capable of comeback wins. Late in the year, they believe they can come back and win.”

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