Bulldogs and Tigers open fourth weekend of conference play on Friday, April 9 at 6 p.m.
STARKVILLE – Riding a four-game winning streak into the fourth weekend of Southeastern Conference play, the No. 4 Mississippi State baseball program heads to Auburn for a three game series April 9-11 at Plainsman Park.
The Diamond Dawgs (21-7, 5-4 SEC) have won two of three SEC weekend series, including a series sweep of Kentucky last weekend. It is the fifth SEC series sweep for State dating back to the 2018 SEC finale against No. 1 Florida and its 11th series win in 14 tries during that span.
Auburn (12-13, 1-8 SEC) won its first conference game last weekend at No. 1 Arkansas and had the lead late in the other two games. The Tigers have dropped series at Ole Miss and Arkansas, and against Kentucky.
The last meeting between the two teams came in the opening game of the 2019 College World Series. Mississippi State rallied from three runs down in the ninth inning to walk off with a 5-4 victory on Marshall Gilbert’s base hit up the middle. Earlier in the 2019 season, State won the final two games of the series in Starkville.
Gameday Info
Friday, April 9 (6 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Christian MacLeod, RHP, Fr. (3Y)
AU: Cody Greenhill, RHP, Sr.
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Saturday, April 10 (2 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Will Bednar, RHP, Fr. (2Y)
AU: Jack Owen, LHP, Sr.
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Sunday, April 11 (2 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Jackson Fristoe, RHP, Fr.
AU: Joseph Gonzalez, RHP, Fr.
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Quick Hitters
- Mississippi State will spend its seventh straight week ranked among the top five by at least one of the major polls, sitting as high as No. 4 per Baseball America.
FULL POLLS ON PAGE 6 - As a pitching staff, Mississippi State has fanned 10-plus batters in seven straight games and has double-digit strikeouts in 23 of 28 games in 2021.
- Against Kentucky, the Bulldog pitchers held the Wildcat hitters to a .170 batting average and allowed just five earned runs. The staff struck out 39 and walked just 10 – two intentional.
- Mississippi State posted its fifth SEC series sweep dating back to the 2018 SEC finale against No. 1 Florida and has won 11 of its last 14 SEC series during that span. The Bulldogs are 28-14 over that stretch and were co-champions of the Western Division in 2019.
- Christian MacLeod (Fr.-3Y) picked up his third win of the season and second in SEC play with six scoreless frames against Kentucky in the series opener. He posted 11 strikeouts for the second time this season – both in SEC play – and didn’t allow a runner to reach third base in the game. For his efforts, he was named SEC Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career.
- Luke Hancock (So.) drove in five RBIs on the weekend with his team-best seventh home run of the season and four sacrifice files.
- On the season, Hancock has walked 24 times, been hit-by-pitch four times and struck out just seven times. His 28 RBIs also lead the team.
- Rowdy Jordan (Jr.) started to heat up at the plate with a .455 batting average in three games against the Wildcats. He collected five hits, scored six runs, drove in two RBIs and was hit-by-pitch twice. The switch hitter didn’t strike out in 13 plate appearances on the weekend.
- Landon Sims (Fr.-2Y) picked up his second win of the season on Saturday against Kentucky with two scoreless innings of work with two strikeouts. The two scoreless innings moved his scoreless innings streak to 12 2/3 innings and has allowed just one run in 19 1/3 innings of work over eight appearances.
- For the seventh straight semester under head coach Chris Lemonis, the baseball program logged a GPA of 3.0 or better during the Fall 2020 term. The team compiled a 3.19 GPA, with 33 student-athletes earning a 3.0 GPA or better.
Scouting the Opponent
- Auburn enters with an overall record of 12-13 and a 1-8 mark in SEC play. The Tigers took one game last weekend to open their series at No. 1 Arkansas, before dropping the final two in one-run fashion.
- Auburn enters with a .298 team batting average and sits among the national leaders in scoring (No. 19; 7.7 rpg), home runs (No. 14; 37) and slugging percentage (No. 14; .484).
- The offense is led by Tyler Miller’s .376 batting average and 35 RBIs. The left-handed hitter also owns a team-best nine home runs and 23 runs scored.
- Rankin Woley leads the team in SEC play with a .389 average in nine starts. The graduate student has three doubles, five RBIs and three runs scored against conference competition.
- The defense has been a strength this season for Auburn as they enter with an SEC best 27 double plays and a .978 fielding percentage.
Series Notes
- Mississippi State and Auburn will meet for the 208th time on Friday evening to open its series at Plainsman Park. Mississippi State owns the overall edge, 111-95-1, and is 15-10 against Auburn over the last 25 games in the series.
- Over its last four trips to The Plains, the Diamond Dawgs own an 8-4 record with two series wins and two series losses.
- At least one of the programs has been ranked by Baseball America in five straight meetings with MSU entering the 2021 series at No. 4 by the publication.
- The last meeting between Mississippi State and Auburn came at the 2019 College World Series in a game that MSU scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk-off the Tigers.
- The first meeting between the two programs came in 1908 at Auburn, with the Tigers sweeping the three-game series. The games were decided by one run, two runs and two runs.