Diamond Dawgs and Tigers matchup on Friday, March 19 on the SEC Network
STARKVILLE – Throw out the statistics. Put the rankings in the drawer. It is time for Southeastern Conference baseball, as the No. 2 Mississippi State baseball program travels south to face No. 10 LSU at Alex Box Stadium starting Friday, March 19 at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network.
SEC play returns for the first time since 2019, as Mississippi State (14-3) enters on a seven-game winning streak and LSU (15-3) has won six straight games heading into conference play.
On its seven-game winning streak, Mississippi State is hitting .300 and scoring 8.4 runs per game. On the mound, State owns a 0.57 ERA over 63 innings of work and opponents are hitting just .119 against the pitching staff.
Overall, Tanner Allen and Luke Hancock are both hitting a team-best .308 on the season. Hancock is tied for the team lead with 18 RBIs and has a team-high five home runs. Kamren James has also driven in 18 runs, while Allen is third on the team with 16. On the current seven-game winning streak, Lane Forsythe leads the offense with a .364 batting average and eight runs scored.
The pitching staff has been a highlight for the Maroon and White in 2021, with a staff ERA of 2.24 and an opponent’s batting average of .176 over 153 innings of work. However, of the pitchers on MSU’s staff, only Eric Cerantola, Spencer Price and Riley Self have thrown a pitch in an SEC regular season game.
LSU is hitting .289 as a team and averaging 8.6 runs per game this season in large part thanks to 70 extra base hits – including 35 home runs. Dylan Crews leads the team with a .406 batting average and 25 runs scored, while Cade Doughty has a team-best eight home runs and 25 RBIs. The pitching staff owns a 4.02 ERA and .232 batting average against. Landon Marceaux, the projected Saturday starter for LSU, has not allowed an earned run in four starts (23 IP) and has 32 strikeouts to just three walks.
Gameday Info
Friday, March 19 (6 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Christian MacLeod, LHP, Fr.
LSU: Jaden Hill, RHP, Jr.
TV: SEC Network
Live Video: https://hailst.at/3cGzWp2
Live Audio: https://hailst.at/audio
Live Stats: http://hailst.at/StatBroadcast
Saturday, March 20 (6:30 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Will Bednar, RHP, Fr.
LSU: Landon Marceaux, RHP, Jr.
Live Video: https://hailst.at/2QkOza7
Live Audio: https://hailst.at/audio
Live Stats: http://hailst.at/StatBroadcast
Sunday, March 21 (2 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Eric Cerantola, RHP, So.
LSU: AJ Labas, RHP, R-Jr.
Live Video: https://hailst.at/3eS8PKr
Live Audio: https://hailst.at/audio
Live Stats: http://hailst.at/StatBroadcast
Quick Hitters
- Mississippi State held steady at No. 2 per Baseball America and sits among the top five in for the other five polls.
FULL POLLS ON PAGE 4 - The Bulldogs are 12-2 in the last 14 regular season games against ranked opponents dating back to the 2019 season. That includes a 6-0 mark against top 10 teams.
- The Bulldogs will open the SEC slate on the road for the third time in the last five SEC seasons and the 46th time in 84 SEC seasons, including 22 of those at LSU.
- Mississippi State rode four straight shutouts from the no-hitter against Kent State on March 7 through the series opener against Eastern Michigan, marking the second-longest streak in program history behind the school-record five straight by the 1909 team.
- The four straight shutouts helped Mississippi State set the school record for consecutive shutout innings at 39. The previous record was 30 innings during the 1976 season.
MORE ON PAGE 10 - Landon Sims continues his dominant start to the 2021 season. In his last two appearances, he struck out eight batters over three innings to move his season total to 30 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings of work. He has allowed one run (0.77 ERA) on just six hits. Of his 35 total outs available, Sims has fanned 30 of those batters to just three walks.
- Luke Hancock hit two home runs against Samford and leads the team with five home runs and is tied with 18 RBIs. He is hitting .308 on the season with 15 walks and just three strikeouts.
- Tanner Allen leads the team with 20 hits and 20 runs scored, along with a .308 batting average and a .400 on-base percentage.
- State has won 11 straight games against in-state opponents dating back to the 2019 season, including two in 2021.
MORE ON PAGE 8 - 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
- LSU enters SEC play with a 15-3 overall record and have won six straight games since losing the series finale to Oral Roberts. The Tigers are 13-3 at home and 2-0 on the road.
- Offensively, the Tigers are hitting .289 with a .391 on-base percentage. Of the 188 hits, 70 of those have gone for extra bases, including 35 home runs.
- LSU leads the NCAA with 155 runs scored in 2021
- The pitching staff is limiting the opposition to a .232 batting average and allowing 4.6 runs per game. Tiger pitchers are one of nine pitching staffs averaging 10 strikeouts per game, entering the weekend at 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings.
- Cade Doughty ranks No. 3 nationally in home runs (8), No. 4 in RBIs (25) and No. 5 in total bases (46).
- Landon Marceaux has not allowed an earned run in 23 innings of work this season over four starts. He has 32 strikeouts to just three walks and limits opposing hitters to a .150 batting average against.
Series Notes
- Mississippi State and LSU have met 402 times prior to this weekend’s three-game series in Starkville, with MSU owning a 214-187-1 edge on the all-time ledger.
- The first meeting between the two programs came in 1907, with LSU taking two of three games in Starkville.
- Each team has four winning streaks in the series of at least seven games, with Mississippi State owning the longest winning streak at nine games (1911-1915).
- A tie in 1917 was followed by two more Bulldog wins, making it a 12-game unbeaten streak.
- LSU’s longest winning streak has been eight games on three occasions, winning all eight games in 1975, claiming eight straight between 1991 and 1992 and running off eight-straight wins from April 24, 2016-March 29, 2018.