Mississippi State will play final tune-up before SEC play against Samford at 6 p.m.
STARKVILLE – Riding a six-game winning streak, the No. 2 Mississippi State baseball program will host Samford for a 6 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday (March 15) at Dudy Noble Field. The pair of Bulldogs have met on the diamond 46 prior times with MSU owning a 36-10 overall edge in the series.
Mississippi State (13-3) is coming off of a three-game series sweep of Eastern Michigan to complete a 5-0 week. State allowed just two runs in five games last week – both solo home runs – and struck out 69 batters over 45 innings of work. The six-game winning streak was kept alive by MSU’s third walk-off win of the season versus EMU on Saturday.
Junior Tanner Allen leads the offense with a .328 batting average, 20 hits and 19 runs scored. The left-handed hitter has two home runs and ranks tied for No. 2 on the team with 15 RBIs. Second-year freshman Kamren James leads the team with 17 RBIs, while sophomore Luke Hancock has driven in 15 runs.
Houston Harding will make his fourth start of the season on Tuesday and has given up just two earned runs in 15 1/3 innings of work this season. He owns 23 strikeouts to just five walks and has limited opposing hitters to just a .148 batting average against.
Samford enters on a four-game skid after dropping all three games of a weekend series at Texas A&M over the weekend. Sonny DiChiara leads the Bulldogs at the plate with 11 RBIs and 14 runs scored in 16 starts. He has five home runs and 13 walks to give him a 1.056 OPS. Projected starter Blake Bortak owns a 5.23 ERA in 10 1/3 innings of work. He has 14 strikeouts and just three walks.
Gameday Info
Tuesday, March 16 (6 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Houston Harding, LHP, Jr.
SU: Blake Borrtak, LHP, Fr.
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Quick Hitters
- Mississippi State sits at No. 2 in the national polls for the second straight week and is a top 10 team in all six of the major 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.
- State has won 11 straight games against in-state opponents dating back to the 2019 season, including two in 2021.
MORE ON PAGE 8 - 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. It is one game shy of the school record held by the 1909 team, who shutout five straight opponents.
- The four straight shutouts helped Mississippi State set the modern school record for consecutive shutout innings at 39. The streak started with the first scoreless inning against Kent State last Sunday and continued through the third inning of the middle game in the series with Eastern Michigan. The previous record was 30 innings during the 1976 season.
- Junior Tanner Allen saw his 12-game hitting streak come to an end but extended his reached base streak to 15 games by reaching safely in all five games last week. Allen has done everything for MSU, as he has either scored a run or drove in an RBI in 14 of 16 games this season.
- For the 14th time since 2018, Mississippi State collected a walk-off win in its 4-1 victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday. Logan Tanner’s three-run home run with no outs in the ninth inning lifted MSU to the victory, its third walk-off of the season – second by walk-off home run.
- Over the last six games, the Mississippi State’s pitching staff has thrown 54 innings and surrendered just two runs for a 0.33 ERA. During the six-game stretch, opponents are hitting .101 against the pitching staff and have struck out 82 batters to just nine walks. The on-base percentage was .158 as 19 pitchers allowed just 18 hits.
- Landon Sims continues his dominant start to the 2021 season, as he made two appearances and threw three innings. 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.
- Second-year freshman Kamren James continues to produce at the plate with a team-leading 17 RBIs, four home runs and six stolen bases. He ranks No. 2 on the team in hits (17) and has added 12 runs scored.
- 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
- Samford enters the week with a 7-9 overall record after dropping all three games in a series at Texas A&M over the weekend. The Bulldogs are 6-2 at home, but just 1-7 on the road.
- As a team, Samford is hitting .232 with 5.6 runs per game on 7.6 hits per game. A team on-base percentage of .334 is stoked by 62 walks and 20 hit-by-pitch.
- On the mound, SU limits opponents to a .288 batting average against and has walked just 56 in 137 2/3 innings of work. Twenty pitchers have combined for 168 strikeouts and compiled a 7.78 ERA.
- Projected starting pitcher Blake Bortak (LHP) has thrown 10 1/3 innings in six appearances (two starts). He has allowed six runs on 10 hits. He owns 14 strikeouts and just three walks.
- Ryan Crockett leads everyday starters with a .304 batting average and a .418 on-base percentage. He leads the team with 14 hits and ranks No. 2 on the squad in runs scored (10) and RBIs (9).
- Sonny DiChiara leads Samford with 14 runs scored and 11 RBIs through 16 games.
Series Notes
- Mississippi State and Samford will meet for the 47th time this week, with State owning a 36-10 edge all time.
- The first meeting came in 1909 when MSU swept three-straight games from the Samford in Starkville.
- Three of the last eight meetings have come at an NCAA Regional.
- These two teams met in an elimination game at the Tallahassee Regional in 2018, a game won by Mississippi State, 9-8, on June 3.
- In 2019, State traveled to Samford and claimed a 6-4 victory, its first trip to J.L. Griffin Field since 2002.
- The last meeting in Starkville came during the 2015 season, a 6-2 victory for MSU on March 1.