Diamond Dawgs meet The Citadel for the first time in program history in Charleston, South Carolina
CHARLESTON, S.C. – For the third time this season, the No. 2 Mississippi State baseball program will add a new opponent to the all-time ledger. The Diamond Dawgs will travel to Charleston, South Carolina for a midweek tilt versus The Citadel on Wednesday (May 5) at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
On the season, Mississippi State (32-10) own a 10-0 mark in midweek games and has lost just once in the midweek under head coach Chris Lemonis. This midweek game carries a little extra meaning for Lemonis, as he spent four years on campus as a student-athlete and coached for 12 seasons at the military academy.
For the third time in his career, Tanner Allen has posted 40 RBIs and is looking to become just the eighth Diamond Dawg to produce 250 hits, 150 runs scored and 150 RBIs in a career. He is close to joining Rex Buckner (1990-93) as the only two Diamond Dawgs in program history with 50 doubles, 20 home runs and 10 triples, as well.
Rowdey Jordan has moved his reached base streak to 27 games, which is the eighth longest streak since 2009 at Mississippi State. Of the 27 games, Jordan has reached base multiple times in 20 contests, including 10 with multiple hits, and has scored at least one run in 18 games.
The Citadel (11-25) is led by head coach and Lemonis’ teammate during his time wearing the Citadel Blue, Tony Skole. The Bulldogs are 3-14 in Southern Conference play after losing all three games to VMI over the weekend. Jeffery Brown leads the offense as one of three Bulldog starters hitting over .300 on the season. Brown leads the team with 45 hits, while Ryan McCarthy owns a team-best 24 runs scored and 24 RBIs to go along with a .303 average.
Mississippi State and The Citadel meet for the first time in program history. The Citadel is a current member of the Southern Conference, where Mississippi State was a charter member of the conference from 1921-33, before joining the Southeastern Conference. All-time, State is 55-19 against the current alignment of the SoCon.
Gameday Info
Wednesday, May 5 (6 p.m. CT)
Probable Starters
MSU: Cade Smith, RHP, Fr.
TC: Cameron Reeves, RHP, So.
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Quick Hitters
- Mississippi State will spend its 11th straight week ranked among the top five by at least one major poll, sitting as high as No. 2 by Perfect Game.
FULL POLLS ON PAGE 6 - Mississippi State posted its ninth winning weekend n 11 tries and collected its fifth series sweep of the year with three victories over Texas A&M. The Diamond Dawgs now have three SEC series sweeps (TAMU, Kentucky and at Auburn) in 2021.
- Mississippi State had one of its better weeks at the plate against Texas A&M, hitting .325 on the weekend with 7.0 runs per game and 12.1 hits per game. The Diamond Dawgs also walked 20 times and took four hit-by-pitch – 24 free bases – to just 22 strikeouts.
- Mississippi State continues to sit atop the NCAA leader board in strikeouts with 540 on the season. The only pitching staff in the country with 500-plus strikeouts on the season, MSU has 10-plus punchouts in 36 of 42 games played.
MORE ON PAGE 11 - Tanner Allen added his 53rd career double to his stat sheet over the weekend and now sits tied for No. 7 all-time at MSU with current MSU Director of Athletics John Cohen (1988-90).
MORE ON PAGE 8 - Allen is also closing in on joining an exclusive club at Mississippi State. With 238 career hits, 149 runs scored and 156 RBIs, he can become just the eight Diamond Dawg to pile up 250 hits, 150 runs scored and 150 RBIs in a career.
- At 27 games, Rowdey Jordan’s reached base streak is the eighth longest streak since 2009 at Mississippi State. Of the 27 games, Jordan has reached base multiple times in 20 of those, including 10 of with multiple hits, and has scored at least one run in 18 games.
MORE ON PAGE 8 - Head coach Chris Lemonis sits at 96 wins during his tenure at Mississippi State (125 games coached) and looks to become the fastest head coach in program history to reach the 100-win mark. Pat McMahon reached the 100-win mark in his 146th career game as head coach, while Ron Polk took 150 games to reach the 100-win mark.
- Entering the week, Mississippi State is 28-1 in midweek contests over the last three seasons, including a perfect 10-0 mark during the 2021 season. The Diamond Dawgs went 15-0 in the midweek during the 2019 season and was 3-1 in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic cut the season short.
Scouting the Opponent
- The Citadel enters with an 11-25 overall record and a 3-14 mark in the Southern Conference.
- As a team, the Bulldogs are hitting .276 with 4.9 runs per game and 9.4 hits per contest. Of the 340 hits, only 82 of those have gone for extra bases, including 23 home runs.
- The pitching staff owns a 6.57 ERA in 311 innings of work and punched out 382 batters to 181 walks. Opponents are hitting .280 against them.
- Jeffery Brown leads four Bulldogs batting over .300 with a .310 average and 45 hits on the season. He is second on the squad in runs scored (20).
- Ryan McCarthy leads the team in RBIs (24) and runs scored (24) to go along with a .303 batting average and .403 on-base percentage.
- Starting pitcher Cameron Reeves has made eight starts in 15 appearances with 56 1/3 innings of work and a .251 batting average against. He has allowed 36 earned runs on 55 hits.
Series Notes
- Mississippi State will face The Citadel for the first time in program history on Wednesday in Charleston, South Carolina.
- While Mississippi State was a charter member of the Southern Conference from 1921-33, before joining the Southeastern Conference for the 1933-34 academic year.
- Overall, State is 55-19 against the current alignment of the SoCon, with the full opponent breakdown below:
- The oldest series between MSU and a SoCon opponent is with Mercer. The teams first met during the 1908 season in Macon, Georgia. The Bears won all three games that weekend in 1908.
- Earlier in 2021, Mississippi State won 10-2 over Southern Conference member Samford on March 16.