May 13, 2024 - All Mississippi Baseball

swift swingers

For what it’s worth, Brent Rooker ranks 48th among major league hitters in average bat speed, a new stat made available Sunday from Statcast that “measures how fast the sweet spot of the bat is moving at the point of contact with the baseball.” Giancarlo Stanton — no big surprise — tops this list at 80.6 mph. Ex-Mississippi State star Rooker’s number is 73.8. For what it’s worth, Rooker’s average bat speed has been producing high-quality results of late: The Oakland A’s DH is hitting .400 with five home runs and 17 RBIs in his last 15 games. He hit his 10th bomb of the year in a Sunday loss and now has 50 homers in his MLB career. His season batting average is up to .292, and he has 27 RBIs for an Oakland team that has exceeded expectations. Of course, a swift swing doesn’t necessarily correlate with good hitting. (Stanton is batting .230 with eight homers and has fanned 50 times in 135 at-bats.) There is something to be said for just making consistent contact. Jordan Westburg, another former State standout, ranks 147th in average bat speed with a 70.8. He has produced a .304 average, six homers and 27 RBIs for the Baltimore Orioles. The top average bat speed among Mississippians in the majors belongs to Austin Riley (75.0), who is off to a lackluster start with Atlanta. Hunter Renfroe, No. 2 at 74.4, is off to a poor start in Kansas City.

taking flight

A seven-game win streak capped by a 38-run explosion in a three-game conference road sweep has propelled Southern Miss back into Baseball America’s Top 25. The 25th-ranked Golden Eagles are 34-17, 18-9 Sun Belt, and back in BA’s poll for the first time in two months. It’s the right time to be taking off, with four regular season games left — Ole Miss at home on Tuesday and a Sun Belt series at home vs. Texas State on the weekend — before the league tournament. The NCAA Tournament looms in the distance. Ozzie Pratt had a five-hit game on Sunday in a 14-6 romp past Arkansas State, driving in three runs and scoring three. But no Eagles player is hotter than Slade Wilks, the senior DH from Columbia. Wilks went 7-for-14 in the ASU series with three homers, seven RBIs and seven runs. He has a 24-game hitting streak. He leads the team with 13 homers, 53 RBIs and a .596 slugging average. With 45 career homers, Wilks is tied for sixth on USM’s all-time list with the legendary slugger Fred Cooley. Leadoff batter Dalton McIntyre — USM’s Ferriss Trophy candidate — has been a spark all season; the Meridian Community College transfer leads the team with a .388 average and has scored 39 runs and swiped 10 bases. But Wilks is the aircraft carrier for first-year coach Christian Ostrander. P.S. Mississippi State (33-18) slipped from 12th to 15th in the BA poll after losing two of three at third-ranked Arkansas over the weekend. … Delta State (32-22) is bound for the NCAA Division II South Region Bracket 2 at St. Leo, Fla. The Statesmen, seeded sixth in the eight-team regional, will open tourney play with Embry-Riddle (Fla.) on Thursday. … William Carey University and Blue Mountain Christian are scheduled to play today in their respective NAIA regionals, though weather may interrupt. Carey is hosting a four-team Opening Round event in Hattiesburg, while BMC is in the five-team tourney at LSU-Shreveport.