Lemonis indicates weekend rotation shakeup

It appears this Sunday will look a bit different on the mound for the Bulldogs

It looks as though Mississippi State’s weekend pitching rotation is about to get a changeup for this weekend’s series against Arkansas.

The No. 3 Bulldogs are slated to host the No. 2 Razorbacks at Dudy Noble Field this weekend and it appears MSU will turn to someone other than Eric Cerantola to start the Sunday game. State head coach Chris Lemonis addressed his weekend pitching plan on his weekly Dawg Talk show on Monday.

“We’re looking at it right now,” Lemonis said. “We’re pretty set with the rotation in terms of (Christian) MacLeod and (Will) Bednar and then we’re just TBA on Sunday right now. We have a couple of good options with Houston Harding. We have a good option with Jackson Fristoe. We’re trying to figure out how we match up best against Arkansas.”

Cerantola was of course notably absent as Lemonis mentioned his options. It’s likely not too much of a surprise as the big, Canadian right-hander has struggled mightily in three of his four starts this season.

Cerantola has a 7.71 ERA this year. And while he has limited batters to a .233 average, he’s been hampered tremendously by control issues – something that has plagued him throughout his career. In only 11.2 innings of work, Cerantola has walked nine batters, hit six and thrown two wild pitches.

After his latest rough outing this past Sunday against LSU when Cerantola couldn’t make it out of the second inning, Lemonis hinted a change might be forthcoming.

"He wasn’t throwing strikes," Lemonis said of Cerantola after Sunday’s game. "He hit a guy and threw the ball to backstop. It wasn’t in the (strike) zone...We’ll reevaluate (the pitching situation going forward) after the week, but (Cerantola) just wasn’t in the zone early in the game."

Fristoe fired four strong innings of relief for the Bulldogs after Cerantola left Sunday’s game. It was a continuation of what has been an impressive start to the career of the freshman.

Fristoe had been a weekend starter for MSU all year up until the LSU series when Will Bednar’s return forced Fristoe to the bullpen. But now, Fristoe is in the running to hop right back into the weekend starting mix. Fristoe has thrown more innings than any other Bulldog this season and he’s been brilliant. Over 21 innings of work, he boasts an ERA of 1.71 and opponents have hit just .153 against him.

Meanwhile, the left-hander Harding has been just as impressive. In four starts – three of which have come in midweek games – the southpaw has just a 0.96 ERA over 18.2 innings while limiting opposing hitters to a .182 batting average.

It also at least bears mentioning moving forward that MSU has several other possible starters currently working in its bullpen. Among them are Brandon Smith, who has made four career starts. And also Landon Sims, who has never started a game for the Bulldogs, but was looked at as a starting option this past fall.

For now though, it seems like State is perfectly content leaving Smith and Sims’ production in the bullpen and rolling with either Harding or Fristoe in Cerantola’s former spot.

Harding's inclusion as a candidate for a weekend role has also altered MSU's usual midweek pitching plan. Harding has been the primary midweek starter for the Bulldogs, but with MSU scheduled for a 6 p.m. Wednesday game against North Alabama, Lemonis has now tasked freshman Mikey Tepper with making his first career start.

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