Three Takeaways From Mississippi State Baseball's Tough Weekend Against LSU

Three things we took away from the weekend after Mississippi State baseball was swept by LSU.

Mississippi State dropped all three games of their weekend series against LSU and is tied for last place in the SEC West.

The Diamond Dawgs struggled greatly on offense, while LSU picked up plenty of free runs on pitching woes. Believe it or not, two of MSU's games could have likely turned out different. On Friday night, the Bulldogs were a strike away from winning the opening game of the series but gave up four runs with two outs in an ultimate pitching meltdown. Saturday was the opposite: State couldn't bring in runs with runners in scoring position and no outs and ultimately lost 4-3.

Here are three takeaways from the Bulldogs' difficult weekend against the Tigers.

1. The weekend pitching rotation needs a shakeup.

Friday night starting pitcher Preston Johnson had the best night of his career, while Cade Smith struggled for the first time all season on Sunday. Both of those players should be set for the next few weeks-- barring anything drastic happening. The middle spot desperately needs to be filled. Parker Stinnett was given another chance to start on Saturday but only made it 0.2 innings before being pulled. Despite having such a short appearance, he gave up three runs on three hits with two batters walked and one strikeout. Brandon Smith replaced him and gave up just one run on four hits with one batter walked and four strikeouts. Aside from Brandon Smith, there are plenty of options to take over that Saturday spot; Stinnett has likely run out of chances.

2. Simple base hits are just as important as home runs.

The Diamond Dawgs hit four home runs during the series...that would be great if they resulted in a win. Only four runs scored on the team's other 29 hits, even with runners in scoring position with less than two outs. Had the Bulldogs delivered when given countless opportunities, the game would have likely had a very different outcome. There were many times when the batters swung for the fences instead of the gaps in the field, and that often resulted in strikeouts from trying too hard.

3. Final position decisions need to be made.

Every college baseball coach wants to put his best foot forward every day, and that often results in making big changes when necessary. However, there is a such thing as doing too much. The constant rotation of Mississippi State shortstops and center fielders will likely hurt the team as the season continues. The defense needs consistency to work together well, and no batter is going to get better if he is constantly pulled in and out. At some point, a final decision needs to be made.