stepping up

There were several job openings in the Mississippi State lineup heading into this season, and Demarcus Henderson certainly seems to have latched onto one. The redshirt freshman outfielder out of Waynesboro is hitting a team-best .414 with an eight-game hit streak. The 5-foot-11, 174-pound Henderson was named the SEC freshman of the week on Monday. He might have been better known in high school as the Wayne County quarterback, but he had solid baseball credentials. He batted .455 with 10 homers as a junior in 2009 and was an All-State pick in 2010 after batting .492. Houston drafted him in the 43rd round in 2010. He played some at State early last season but then had corrective eye surgery and was shut down. He has been a revelation for the Bulldogs, who, despite some key injuries, are 14-3 and play their first road game of the season tonight at Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond. They open SEC play this weekend at LSU.
P.S. Mississippi College’s use of 10 pitchers in its 8-6 win over Illinois Wesleyan on Monday was, for the most part, by design. Coach Brian Owens used one pitcher for one inning each until the ninth, when Andy Roberts ran into trouble and Scott Trousdale was summoned to get the last out. The Choctaws tied an NCAA record with the 10 pitchers. MC has a big American Southwest Conference trip coming this weekend at LeTourneau and Owens apparently is still trying to get his pitching staff (5.40 ERA) in order. Everyone should be well-rested, at the least. The Choctaws are 8-10, 1-2 ASC.