Bulldogs and Razorbacks meet in matchup of No. 1 and No. 2 teams in Baseball America Top 25
STARKVILLE – Competition in the Southeastern Conference is always stiff and on Friday (March 26), the No. 2 Mississippi State baseball program will open a three-game series with No. 1 Arkansas at Dudy Noble Field. The series opener is slated for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch.
In the history of the Baseball America Top 25, the week six matchup between the Diamond Dawgs (17-4, 2-1 SEC) and the Razorbacks (16-3, 2-1 SEC) will mark just the 14th time the top two spots in the poll meet during the regular season. Over the last four occurrences, three of those have included SEC teams.
Mississippi State enters the weekend with 10 wins in its last 11 contests, including an SEC-opening series victory over No. 10 LSU. The pitching staff continues to set the tone, ranking among the national leaders in shutouts (No. 1; 5), total strikeouts (No. 1; 274), ERA (No. 2; 2.30), hits per nine innings (No. 3; 5.65) and WHIP (No. 3; 1.00).
At the plate over the last five games, Kamren James is hitting a blistering .444 with eight hits, four runs scored and four RBIs. Tanner Allen and Brayland Skinner both enter with a .333 batting average over the last five games and Luke Hancock is reaching base at a .458 clip with four hits and seven walks.
Overall, Allen has been a do-it-all option for State with a team-leading .329 batting average, 26 hits and 24 runs. His 21 RBIs are tied for the team lead and his six stolen bases rank No. 2 on the squad. James and Hancock each have 21 RBIs. As a team, MSU has earned its way on with 112 walks and 22 hit-by-pitch. The 134 free passes are more than their total number of strikeouts (129) entering the weekend.
Arkansas dropped its SEC opener to Alabama but rebounded to win the series and then swept a pair of games from Memphis in the midweek. The Razorbacks have been the top team in the country for most of the last four weeks and are led by junior Brady Slavens and his .308 batting average and 20 RBIs. Senior Casey Opitz hit .500 in three starts last weekend against the Crimson Tide with a team-best four RBIs.
The series has been fairly even throughout its history, with Mississippi State owning a slim 56-51 edge all time. The home team has swept each of the last four meetings. If you add in a split at the 2017 SEC Tournament, the two teams are even at 7-7 over the last 14 meetings.
Gameday Info
Friday, March 26 (6:30 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Christian MacLeod, RHP, Fr. (3Y)
UA: Patrick Wicklander, LHP, So.
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Saturday, March 27 (2 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Will Bednar, RHP, Fr. (2Y)
UA: Zebulon Vermillion, RHP, Sr.
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Sunday, March 28 (2 p.m.) – SEC Network
Probable Starters
MSU: Jackson Fristoe, RHP, Fr.
UA: Lael Lockhart, LHP, Sr.
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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 - With MSU and Arkansas ranked atop the Baseball America poll in the No. 2 and No. 1 spots, respectively, it is just the 14th time in the publication’s history the top two teams have met in the regular season.
MORE ON PAGE 8 - Mississippi State and Arkansas will meet for the 108th time on Friday, with the series sitting at 56-51 in favor of MSU.
MORE ON PAGE 3 - In its last 17 games against ranked opponents dating back to the 2019 season, Mississippi State is 14-3 in those games. That record includes an 8-1 mark against top 10 teams.
- Mississippi State picked up its NCAA best fifth shutout of the season at LSU on March 20. The Diamond Dawgs are tied for the most shutouts in 2021 with Oklahoma State.
- As a team, State has reached via walk 112 times and hit-by-pitch 22 to just 129 strikeouts in 2021.
- Since March 1 (14 games), Mississippi State has shutout five opponents and allowed one run on five occasions. During the 14-game stretch, State has only allowed four-or-more runs twice.
- Mississippi State has fanned 10-plus batters in 16 of 21 games this seasons, including a school-record-tying 10 straight games from Feb. 26-March 12.
MORE ON PAGE 11 - Will Bednar (Fr.-2Y) made his first career SEC start and fired five scoreless innings at No. 10 LSU on Saturday. Between the first and fifth innings, Bednar retired 13 straight batters.
- Landon Sims (Fr.-2Y) continued to dominate opposing hitters with two more strikeouts in two innings of work to collect the save in the series-clinching win on Saturday at No. 10 LSU.
- 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
- Arkansas enters after winning a pair of midweek games over Memphis to push its season record to 16-3 and remain among the top five teams in the country in each of the major polls.
- Casey Opitz leads the Razorbacks’ everyday starters with a .364 batting average and a .426 on-base percentage.
- Brady Slavens leads the Hogs 21 hits, six home runs and 21 RBIs, while sitting tied for the team lead with 18 runs scored.
- While the team batting average is just .279, Arkansas has hit 31 home runs and enters the weekend with a .486 team slugging percentage. It on-base percentage sits at .397 with 173 hits, 101 walks and 28 hit-by-pitch.
- Like MSU, the pitching staff has used its fair share of arms in 2021, as 20 pitchers have logged at least one appearance.
- Patrick Wicklander will make his second start of the season in the series opener. The left-hander came out of the bullpen last weekend vs. Alabama and threw 5 1/3 innings and allowed one run on three hits with six strikeouts.
Series Notes
- Mississippi State and Arkansas have met 107 times prior to this weekend’s three-game series in Starkville, with Mississippi State owning a 56-51 edge on the all-time ledger.
- The first meeting came between the two programs in 1960, with Mississippi State winning a one run contest, 3-2, in Monroe, Louisiana.
- Mississippi State has the longest winning streak of the series at 10 games, winning the first 10 contests (1960-1983) between the two programs.
- The Diamond Dawgs and Razorbacks have traded series sweeps over the last four in-season series. The last road team to win a game was MSU in the series finale of the 2015 series, which was won by Arkansas, 2-1.