STARKVILLE — Hunter Hines knew the struggles would come eventually, but he didn’t know what the severity would be.

The Mississippi State baseball freshman figured SEC pitching would figure him out over time, but a 1-for-30 stretch?

“I just didn’t know it was going to be that big,” Hines said.

He opened by hitting .330 (29-for-88) prior to his slump in late March and into early April. It resulted in ugly at-bats where Hines was swinging at strike three well above the zone and slamming his bat into the ground.

Pitchers were flooding at-bats with changeups to throw him off balance – the pitch he considers toughest to hit.

Hines knew what pitchers were doing. Hitting coach Jake Gautreau knew it. Hines’ dad and lifelong coach, Richey, knew it from watching in the stands every game.

“It’s a longer season than I’ve ever played, so I kind of hit a little wall there,” Hines said. “It was a little frustrating for me, but I just kept grinding to get out of it every day.”

Rather than removing Hines from the lineup, coach Chris Lemonis let his freshman phenom learn through the fire. It resulted in Hines recovering and turning in one of the SEC’s top freshman seasons.

“I’m glad it happened to me now, because I’ve learned from it,” Hines said. “Now, it won’t happen to me again.”

The Madison, Mississippi, native is hitting .296, and .358 since his slump. His 15 home runs and 50 RBIs lead SEC freshmen.

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He said he came into Dudy Noble Field against Long Beach State for opening day in February and felt the pressure of playing in that environment. But Hines quickly adapted to become one of State’s best hitters in crunch time – highlighted by a ninth-inning, two-run home run against Alabama to tie the game in his first SEC home series.

“Once you get in the game, you slow it down a little bit,” Hines said. “You get the first ball and it kind of slows down. You’re not as nervous as you were. I took that throughout the season. The crowd is awesome. I just use it for me.”

His late-game success continued on the road. He hit a pair of home runs and collected five RBIs in a series at Ole Miss. He has blasted home runs at Missouri and Texas A&M in weekends where it felt nothing went Mississippi State’s way amid a horrid season.

“It’s cool because they’ll be yelling and you can’t hear that,” Hines said. “Then you hit something and they’re all quiet. All you can hear is your teammates.”

Hines remembers growing up and thinking how cool it would be to play at Dudy Noble, but in the moment it became hard for him to grasp. Rounding the bases after dramatic home runs became a blur, but as he reflects on Year 1, he realizes his dreams have become reality.

With success comes raised expectations. Mississippi State (26-27, 9-18 SEC) enters its final regular-season series against No. 1 Tennessee (46-7, 22-5), starting Thursday, on the outside of the SEC Tournament.

The Bulldogs need help from conference foes to crack the field, but after a national championship run, even squeaking into the conference tournament is a letdown.

Pressure will be on Mississippi State to make a drastic turnaround next season, and it’ll likely come with some of the team’s biggest names departing for MLB. That’s when Hines will be expected to take a leap not only on the field but in the clubhouse.

He’ll be a sophomore, but he could be among the most experienced players on the roster pending transfer portal additions.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen, if people are going to leave or not; but if they do leave, I’ll have to step it up and be a leader," he said. "I like that. I like to be a leader. I had people lead me this year, and they did a great job. Maybe I can do it next year.”

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @skrajisnik3. 

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State baseball: Hunter Hines leads SEC freshmen in HR, RBI