turning it on

Mississippi State fans have been waiting for Hunter Renfroe to throw the power switch, and he appears to have done it. The junior outfielder from Crystal Springs belted his seventh home run on Friday night to help the Bulldogs (21-4, 2-2 SEC) beat Kentucky 8-4 in a showdown of nationally ranked clubs. After his 3-for-4, 2-RBI effort, Renfroe is batting .427 with a team-best 32 RBIs; he is slugging an impressive .853. The 6-foot-1, 216-pound right-handed hitter smacked a line drive homer to left-center field at Trustmark Park last week against Southern Miss. It’s not easy to hit one out there. After playing sparingly as a freshman at State, Renfroe batted .252 with four homers last year. That was not the kind of production expected from a player who hit a Mississippi private school record 20 bombs at Copiah Academy in 2010 and was drafted in a late round. But something may have clicked for Renfroe last summer in the Cal Ripken Collegiate League, where he hit a loop-record 19 homers and was named MVP. That juice is still flowing this spring. P.S. State’s win was part of a sweet sweep by the Magnolia State’s Big 3 on Friday: Ole Miss, now 21-2 and 3-1 SEC, beat nationally ranked Texas A&M; and USM took down nationally ranked Rice.