Bulldogs and Red Wolves meet for midweek tilt at The Dude starting at 6:30 p.m.
STARKVILLE – Entering the week with a seven game winning streak, the No. 3 Mississippi State baseball program will entertain Arkansas State for a midweek matchup on Tuesday (April 13) at 6:30 p.m. at Dudy Noble Field.
Mississippi State (24-7) is coming off of back-to-back SEC series sweeps against Kentucky and on the road at Arkansas, while Arkansas State (9-16) won one of three games at Louisiana-Lafayette over the weekend.
Tanner Allen and Rowdey Jordan enter the week with double-digit reached base streaks, as Allen has reached in 14 straight games and Jordan has been on base in 16 consecutive games. During his 16-game streak, Jordan is hitting .357 with 20 hits, 19 runs scored and a .500 on-base percentage. The on-base percentage is boosted by five walks and 11 hit-by-pitch – including a school-record four in the series finale at Auburn. Allen is hitting .367 with 18 hits, 13 runs scored and 18 RBIs over his 14 game streak, with three doubles, one triple and three home runs.
For Arkansas State, Liam Hicks and Tyler Duncan lead the offense with each hitting over .300 for the season. Hicks leads the team with a .413 batting average, while Duncan is batting .327 in 25 starts. Duncan leads the team with 32 hits, six home runs, 24 runs scored and 29 RBIs. The pitching staff owns an ERA of 8.59 and has fanned 163 batters in 206 1/3 innings of work.
Gameday Info
Tuesday, April 13 (6:30 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Carlisle Koestler, RHP, Gr.
ASU: Tyler Jeans, RHP. Fr.
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Quick Hitters
- Mississippi State will spend its eighth straight week ranked among the top five by at least one of the major polls, sitting as high as No. 3 per Baseball America.
- The Bulldogs own the longest winning streak in the SEC and second-longest in the Power 5 (Texas; 8 games) at seven games. The streak includes back-to-back SEC series sweeps for the first time since 2017.
- The six straight SEC victories make MSU the fourth conference team to win six straight games in SEC play this season. None of the previous three were able to push that streak to seven straight conference victories. The last time MSU won more than six straight conference games came to end the 2016 season with a program-record 10 straight SEC wins.
- The Bulldog pitching staff has fanned at least 10 batters in a school-record 11 straight games entering the week. Earlier in the season, State matched the 2001 team with 10 straight games and has now moved past that mark. State leads the NCAA with 406 strikeouts and has walked only 112 batters on the season.
- Last week, Mississippi State hit .338 as a team and slugged .591 with 10 doubles, one triple and nine home runs. The Diamond Dawgs walked 20 times, reached via HBP on eight occasions and struck out just 26 times.
- Tanner Allen leads the team with a .333 batting average, 38 hits and 34 RBIs on the year and ranks No. 2 on the team in runs scored (33) and stolen bases (6). He hit a pair of home runs at Auburn to move his season total to five and added nine RBIs in the series.
- Rowdey Jordan has found his swing after a slow start to the season, as the junior is leading the team over his 16-game reached base streak with a .357 batting average and 19 runs scored. Add his 11 HBP and five walks over that stretch and Jordan owns a .500 on-base percentage during that span.
- Mississippi State enters its annual SEC series against Ole Miss having won 11 straight games against in-state opponents. That stretch began with back-to-back wins over Southern Miss in 2019 and includes four wins over Ole Miss, three against Southern Miss, two over Jackson State and one each against Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State.
Scouting the Opponent
- Arkansas State enters with a 9-16 overall record and a 4-5 mark in Sun Belt play. After dropping the first two games of a series at Louisiana-Lafayette, ASU belted out 12 hits and walked nine times to claim a 16-10 win in the series finale.
- Liam Hicks leads the Red Wolves with a .413 batting average and a .526 on-base percentage. In 63 at-bats, he has 26 hits, 12 runs scored and 12 RBIs.
- Tyler Duncan owns a team-best six home runs, 24 runs scored and 29 RBIs. Of his 32 hits, 15 have gone for extra bases.
- Arkansas State has seen 20 pitchers make at least one appearance and only two have an ERA of under 4.00. The staff has allowed 257 hits in 206 1/3 innings with 163 strikeouts and 162 walks.
Series Notes
- Mississippi State and Arkansas State will meet for the 53rd time on Tuesday at Dudy Noble Field, with MSU owning a 42-10 advantage all-time.
- The last meeting came in a three-game series during the second weekend of the 2006 season. State swept that meeting to move its winning streak to six games in the series.
- The first meeting came to open the 1958 season in Starkville. State won a pair of games on March 24-25.
- The Red Wolves have sprinkled in victories throughout the series, with the longest ASU winning streak coming at three games from1967-68.
- Mississippi State rode the longest winning streak in the series at 13 games from 1974-81.