Mississippi State and Missouri will meet for the 12th time in Thursday’s series opener
STARKVILLE – The final home weekend series of 2021 will begin on Thursday (May 13) as the No. 2 Mississippi State baseball program welcomes Missouri for three games on Dudy Noble Field. The series opener will throw the first pitch at 7:30 with the game airing on ESPNU.
Mississippi State (35-11, 16-8 SEC) is coming off of a 3-1 week that saw a series victory at South Carolina follow a midweek win over The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. Missouri (12-32, 5-19 SEC) is in the midst of a nine game losing streak, with four of those game being decided by three or fewer runs.
Tanner Allen continues to be one of the hottest hitters in the Southeastern Conference, as he is hitting .406 in conference play though 24 games. Overall, Allen is the only baseball student-athlete in the SEC with at least a .300 batting average that ranks among the top 15 in hits, runs and RBIs in the conference. He enters the final two weeks of the regular season ranked No. 2 in the SEC with a .379 average, leads the conference in hits (66), ranks No. 3 in the SEC in runs (50) and No. 7 in RBIs (46).
Starting pitchers Christian MacLeod and Will Bednar became the 97th and 98th Diamond Dawgs, respectively, to reach the 100-strikeout mark for a career. MacLeod will get the ball in the series opener, while Bednar will start on Friday night. MacLeod held South Carolina scoreless for seven innings to earn SEC Pitcher of the Week honors, as he allowed just three base runners to the Gamecocks. Bednar struck out 13 SC hitters in six innings of work and allowed three runs.
Missouri will wrap up SEC play against a pair of SEC West opponents in MSU and Auburn. Andrew Keefer leads the team with a .294 batting average and 42 hits. His 18 RBIs are tied for No. 2 on the team, as are his 22 runs scored in 40 starts. Seth Halvorsen leads the starting pitchers with 59 innings pitched and has 61 punchouts with a .265 batting average against.
Gameday Info
Thursday, May 13 (7:30 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Christian MacLeod, RHP, Fr. (3Y)
UM: Jacob Kush, RHP, Jr.
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Friday, May 14 (6:30 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Will Bednar, RHP, Fr. (2Y)
UM: Seth Halvorsen, RHP, R-So.
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Saturday, May 15 (1 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: TBA
UM: Zach Hise, RHP, Fr.
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Quick Hitters
- Mississippi State will spend its 12th straight week ranked among the top five by at least one major poll, sitting as high as No. 2 by Perfect Game.
- State posted its 10th winning weekend of the season in 12 weekends and collected its sixth SEC series win of the year at No. 12 South Carolina.
- Mississippi State now has two SEC only winning streaks of five-or-more games in 2021 to mark just the seventh time in program history and first since 2000 it won five consecutive conference games twice in a year.
On the mound, Mississippi State posted three more double-digit strikeout games in four tries last weekend to move its season total to an NCAA-leading 589 strikeouts. In 46 games this season, State had piled up 10-plus punchouts in 39 of those contests. - In SEC play this season, Landon Sims has been virtually untouchable. The right-hander has appeared in nine games – eight of which MSU has won – and allowed just one run in 20 1/3 innings (0.44 ERA).
- Tanner Allen sits among the top 50 nationally in hits, runs scored and RBIs, Allen has been at his best in the SEC as he leads all conference hitters with a .406 batting average, is No. 2 in hits in conference play (39) and RBIs (27), and ranks No. 4 in runs (24).
- Starting pitchers Christian MacLeod and Will Bednar became the 97th and 98th Diamond Dawgs, respectively, to reach the 100-strikeout mark for a career.
- Rowdey Jordan has reached base safely in 31 straight games, which is tied for the sixth longest single-season streak in program history. He streak has included 12 multi-hit games and he has scored a run in 21 of the 31 games.
- Head coach Chris Lemonis sits at 99 wins at Mississippi State (129 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.
- With its shutout victory over the Gamecocks on Friday night, Mississippi State locked up a spot at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama.
Scouting the Opponent
- Missouri enters the weekend series with a 12-32 overall record and a 5-19 mark in SEC play. The Tigers wrap up SEC play against a pair of SEC West opponents in MSU and Auburn.
- As an offense, Missouri is hitting .234 as a team with 5.0 runs per game and 7.6 hits per contest. The Tigers have 28 home runs and a .327 on-base percentage.
- The pitching staff owns a 7.41 ERA and opponents hit .284 against the staff. In 375 innings of work, Tiger pitchers have 358 strikeouts and 289 walks.
- Andrew Keefer leads the team with a .294 batting average and 42 hits. His 18 RBIs are tied for No. 2 on the team, as are his 22 runs scored in 40 starts.
- Seth Halvorsen leads the starting pitchers with 59 innings pitched and a 6.56 ERA. He has 61 punchouts to 51 walks and holds opposing hitters to a .265 average.
Series Notes
- Mississippi State and Missouri will meet for the 12th time to open its weekend series on Thursday, with State winning nine of the 11 all-time meetings.
- The first two meetings between the two teams came in postseason play. The first a 2003 NCAA Tournament contest at Dudy Noble Field and the second a 17-inning affair at the SEC Tournament.
- The two teams never met in the regular season prior to its 2014 Southeastern Conference series, which State swept in Columbia, Missouri.
- Of the previous 11 meetings, five have taken extra innings, including the longest game played in program history at 17 innings. That record was equaled at the 2019 SEC Tournament with a 17-inning game against LSU.