Chris Lemonis announces Mississippi State's midweek pitching plan
Will Bednar is back in a starting role.
The Mississippi State pitcher, who entered this season expected to be a weekend starter for the Bulldogs before a neck ailment derailed those plans, will be on the mound to begin MSU's Tuesday game against Grambling. State head coach Chris Lemonis revealed the news Monday over the radio airwaves on SportsTalk Mississippi.
In addition, Lemonis said he plans to start Houston Harding on Wednesday versus Louisiana. Both games this week are set for 6 p.m. central starts at Dudy Noble Field.
On Tuesday, Bednar will be fresh off of making his first appearance of the season this past weekend. The right-hander worked an inning of scoreless, hitless relief with two strikeouts in last Friday's win over Kent State. Bednar looked fully recovered from the issue that delayed his season as he topped out at 96 miles per hour on the in-stadium radar gun.
Will Bednar delivers a pitch this past Friday against Kent State. Bednar is slated to start on the mound for the Bulldogs against Grambling on Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of Mississippi State athletics)
Bednar was originally pegged to be a key piece of State's weekend rotation. He was slated to start against TCU in the year's second game, but according to Lemonis, Bednar woke up that day with neck soreness. He then wasn't seen on the mound until making his relief outing this past Friday.
Now, Bednar could be on a path to get back in the weekend rotation mix. The Bulldogs could certainly look to shake up its current weekend rotation soon with both ace Christian MacLeod and veteran Eric Cerantola struggling.
Of course another weekend starting option in the future could also be Harding. Two of the left-hander's three appearances this season have been starts and his most recent start was his best as he pitched five strong innings to earn the victory in State's 4-1 win over Southern Miss last Wednesday. For the year, Harding has a 1.74 earned run average over 10.1 innings of work. Opponents are hitting just .135 off the southpaw.
For more MSU baseball news from Monday, check out the following:
Dogs in the polls: Here's where MSU is ranked after a series win over Kent State
Jackson Fristoe is the SEC Freshman of the Week and he may be just getting started
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