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Nate Dohm is back and could provide a postseason boost for Mississippi State
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Nate Dohm made his return to the mound on Tuesday night for Mississippi State.
It was just 2 innings against North Alabama, but Dohm’s stuff was on. Both innings were clean, as he recorded a pair of strikeouts on 22 pitches, 15 of which went for strikes.
“I thought his performance was great,” MSU coach Chris Lemonis said after the game. “Two innings, 22 pitches and we were just throwing him two tonight just (as) part of his rehab. We’ve gone two scrimmages the last two weeks, so he scrimmaged two weeks ago, faced an inning worth of guys. Last week he faced about two innings worth.”
Dohm made his first appearance since April 7, when he left the Georgia game after 12 pitches, feeling discomfort in his arm.
“The goal is to have him back for the postseason and working through everything,” Lemonis told media members Tuesday evening. “We’re pretty close. I thought he was pretty good tonight.”
Dohm had the swing-and-miss stuff working in his return to the bump, setting the tone for an 8-4 Mississippi State win that improves the Bulldogs’ record to 34-18 overall heading into the final series of the regular season.
Nate Dohm with the K to start the game.
?» https://t.co/RF5jNu8IWZ#HailState? pic.twitter.com/PwgSeABB7e
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) May 14, 2024
Another K for Nate Dohm!
?» https://t.co/RF5jNu8IWZ#HailState? pic.twitter.com/u6xjqjMaBa
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) May 14, 2024
Dohm also had a month-long stretch of inactivity between starts against Evansville (March 8) and Georgia (April 7). This season, he has totaled 6 appearances. On 3 occasions he went 6-plus innings.
This season, Dohm has allowed just 4 earned runs in limited action. Lemonis is not committing yet to making Dohm a postseason starter.
“I don’t know about that. I mean he’s just going to build volume each time,” Lemonis said after the North Alabama game. “Does he get an outing next week? Does he get one the following? I just think he’s trying to get in there to help us out any way he can. I can’t script too much right now, it’s such a hard time of year to script.”
Whether as a starter or reliever, Dohm could be a valuable arm in the next few weeks. The SEC Tournament, NCAA Regionals and College World Series tend to drain available arms on even the deepest of teams.
Dohm was impressive as a starter in the nonconference slate before the injury bug, but he’s familiar with working out of the pen. Last season, he had 17 appearances, with just 2 starts. Dohm’s ERA over 42 IP was 4.07, while posting a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 49-12.
If Dohm continues to progress, Bulldog fans can expect to see him play a key role in the postseason.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
