Nine-Game Road Trip Concludes With Shriner's College Classic At Minute Maid Park

The Diamond Dawgs will take on Louisiana, Houston and Sam Houston State this weekend at Minute Maid Park.

Nine-Game Road Trip Concludes With Shriner's College Classic At Minute Maid Park

March 01, 2018 | Baseball

HOUSTON, Texas – On day nine of a 12-day road trip, Mississippi State will conclude its unprecedented expedition with three games at the Shriner's Hospital for Children College Classic, which is being held at Minute Maid Park.

The Diamond Dawgs (3-5) will begin their weekend Friday with a 7 p.m. first pitch against Louisiana (3-5). State will then play Houston (5-2) on Saturday at 7 p.m., before concluding their road trip against Sam Houston State (6-2) with a 2:30 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.

State is currently ranked No. 21 by D1 Baseball and No. 27 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

On the tail end of a 12-game span to open the season away from Dudy Noble Field, it is the longest stretch without a home game to begin a season for State since the 1982 season (14 games) and the longest span without a home game since 1982 (14 games).

Game Notes | Live Stats

SHRINER'S COLLEGE CLASSIC SCHEDULE (All times Central)
Friday, March 2 – Vanderbilt at Sam Houston State (12:05 p.m.)
Friday, March 2 – Kentucky at Houston (3:35 p.m.)
Friday, March 2 – Mississippi State at Louisiana (7:05 p.m.)
Saturday, March 3 – Sam Houston State at Kentucky (12:05 p.m.)
Saturday, March 3 – Vanderbilt at Louisiana (3:35 p.m.)
Saturday, March 3 – Houston at Mississippi State (7:05 p.m.)
Sunday, March 4 – Louisiana at Kentucky (11:05 a.m.)
Sunday, March 4 –Mississippi State at Sam Houston State (2:35 p.m.)
Sunday, March 4 – Houston at Vanderbilt (6:05 p.m.)

(home teams listed second)
* - times subject to change

NEED TO KNOW

State is 3-2 through the first six games of its 12-day, nine-game road trip that spans six cities, including a game at UT-Rio Grande Valley that was canceled in the bottom of the fourth inning due to heavy amounts of fog on Monday.
The Diamond Dawgs got off to an 0-3 start for the first time since 1996, a year that saw State go on to finish 38-24 (17-13 SEC) and make one of its 36 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances.
A total of 11 newcomers have made their MSU debut through the first eight games of the season (Tanner Allen, Jordan Anderson, JP France, Justin Foscue, Marshall Gilbert, Josh Hatcher, Rowdey Jordan, Jared Liebelt, Zach Neff, Alex Pener and Jordan Westburg), seven of those have also recorded a start in 2018.
MSU had four true freshman in its Opening Day lineup for the first time since at least 1995.
The Diamond Dawgs have a new look in 2018 with 14 newcomers (8 freshmen, 2 sophomores, 2 juniors and 2 graduate transfers).
With SEC Triple Crown Winner Brent Rooker having been selected in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft, State will have to look elsewhere for offensive production in 2018 and the possibilities are there as MSU returns 50% of its hits, 36% of its extra-base hits and 39% of its RBIs from 2017.
After preseason injuries have ruled Graham Ashcraft and Preseason All-American Spencer Price out for the entirety of the 2018 season, on the mound MSU is returning 55% of its wins, 59% of its innings pitched and 38% of its saves.

PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday: MSU LHP Konnor Pilkington (1-1, 2.00 ERA) vs. ULL RHP Jack Burk (0-2, 4.09 ERA)
Saturday: MSU LHP Ethan Small (1-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. UH LHP Aaron Fletcher (2-0, 1.64 ERA)
Sunday: MSU RHP Jacob Billingsley (0-0, 5.87 ERA) vs. SHSU TBA

WEATHER FORECAST – (Minute Maid Park has a retractable roof)
Friday Forecast: High 76, Low 52 – Partly Cloudy – 10% Chance of Rain
Saturday Forecast: High 68, Low 61 – Mostly Cloudy – 20% Chance of Rain
Sunday Forecast: High 73, Low 66 – Thunderstorms – 80% Chance of Rain

LIVE VIDEO/TELEVISION
This weekend's games will be televised on AT&T SportsNet SW, which airs regionally in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and parts of New Mexico.

The games will also be streamed live on Astros.com and the AT&T SportsNet app.

LIVE STATS
All season long, fans can follow the action with pitch-by-pitch updates through live stats. Visit the Diamond Dawgs' schedule page and click on the "Live Stats" link associated with the appropriate game.

LIVE AUDIO & RADIO
All of this weekend's games will air live on the Mississippi State Baseball Radio Network and WKBB 100.9 in Starkville. With Jim Ellis on the call, all three games will also be audio streamed live online at HailState.com/Plus and on TuneIn Radio.

The Sunday schedule could change if the MSU women's basketball team reaches the SEC Tournament Championship, which would result in the broadcast being "local only" broadcasts, meaning the contest can only be heard through WKBB-FM (100.9) or WLZA-FM (96.1) in the Starkville area.

TICKETS
Tickets are still available for all of this weekend's games at the Shriner's College Classic in Houston.

FOLLOW THE DIAMOND DAWGS
For more information on the Diamond Dawg program, follow the program on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateBB." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."