Road Trip Continues In Louisiana For The Diamond Dawgs

Tuesday, March 27

Thibodaux, La.

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

Nicholls

Freshman Tanner Allen is one of four Diamond Dawgs to have started and played in all 25 games this season.

Road Trip Continues In Louisiana For The Diamond Dawgs

March 26, 2018 | Baseball

Game Notes (PDF)Watch Live Buy Tickets Gary Henderson Media Availability

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Coming off its second Southeastern Conference series of the year, Mississippi State will continue its seven-game road trip on Tuesday night with a non-conference contest at Nicholls State.

The Diamond Dawgs (13-12) and Colonels (8-15) will square off with a 6 p.m. CT first pitch from Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray E. Didier Field in Thibodaux, La.

State is coming off a 3-2 week that included midweek wins over Alcorn State and Texas Southern, before a 15-inning victory at No. 25 Missouri on Saturday in SEC play. The Bulldogs' last two games have gone to extra innings, with 15-inning and 11-inning games at Mizzou on Saturday and Sunday.

MSU and Nicholls met earlier this season on Feb. 24 in the Kleberg Bank College Classic at Whataburger Park in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Diamond Dawgs claimed a 14-4 victory behind an eight-run fourth inning at the plate and a quality Saturday start from Ethan Small on the mound, with eight strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched.

State holds a 9-0 advantage over the Colonels in the all-time series between the two sides, dating back to 1964. Tuesday's meeting will be the first time the two programs have faced off in Thibodaux as prior to February's meeting, the first eight matchups have occurred at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville.

Game Notes | Live Stats

VIDEO: Head coach Gary Henderson met with the media on Monday to preview State's Louisiana trip

NEED TO KNOW

In 12 of State's 13 wins thus far, opponents have been held to four runs or less.
The Diamond Dawgs have seven comeback wins on the year, all of which have come in the month of March. In 2017, 25 of State's 40 wins were come-from-behind victories.
MSU is 12-6 when holding opponents to five or less runs, 9-1 when holding others to two or less runs and 1-5 when allowing six or more runs. State is also 7-2 when scoring first and 6-2 when having scored in the first inning.
The MSU pitching staff has combined for 10+ strikeouts in nine games this season.
With 29 strikeouts last weekend at No. 25 Missouri, the MSU pitching staff has collected 29+ punch outs in four-straight weekend series.
While Jake Mangum leads MSU in multi-hit games (14), Josh Hatcher (10), Hunter Stovall (10) and Tanner Allen (9) aren't far behind their junior center fielder.
Stovall enters a new week swinging a hot bat after hitting .458 (11-for-24) with two doubles, five runs scored and six RBIs over his last five games.
MSU leads the SEC in batters struck out looking (86), while Konnor Pilkington leads the league in strikeouts looking (22) and Ethan Small ranks fourth (15).
State's staff also tops the league in batters struck out (253).
Pilkington also ranks seventh in all of Division I baseball and second in the SEC with a 12.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Hatcher has recorded the most fielding double plays in the SEC (22), while Stovall ranks fourth overall and first among second basemen (19).
As a team, State ranks third in the league and 18th in the nation in fielding double plays (23).
39 strikeouts over the three-game stretch that was the Shriner's College Classic (March 2-4) at Minute Maid Park made for the most in a three-game weekend series by a Diamond Dawg pitching staff since 45 on March 2-3, 2002 against Jacksonville State (doubleheader on March 2).
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 12 newcomers have made their MSU debut thus far in 2018 (Tanner Allen, Jordan Anderson, JP France, Justin Foscue, Marshall Gilbert, Josh Hatcher, Rowdey Jordan, Jared Liebelt, Cole Marsh, Zach Neff, Alex Pener and Jordan Westburg), 10 of those have also recorded a start in 2018.

SCOUTING THE COLONELS
Coming off a Southland Conference series win against McNeese State, Nicholls State is 8-15 overall and 4-5 in league play. The Colonels are 7-6 at home in 2018, having won three of its last four home games.

PROBABLE STARTERS
Tuesday: MSU RHP Jacob Billingsley (2-1, 4.30 ERA) vs. NICH LHP Bryan Taylor (1-3, 3.97)

WEATHER FORECAST
Tuesday Forecast: High 82, Low 68 – AM Clouds/PM Sun – 20% Chance of Rain

LIVE VIDEO/TELEVISION
Tuesday's game will be streamed live and free of charge through Nicholls State Athletics' YouTube channel.

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
As a result of the MSU men's basketball team competing in the National Invitation Tournament semifinals, Tuesday's baseball broadcast will be "local only," meaning it can only be heard through WKBB-FM (100.9) or WLZA-FM (96.1) in the Starkville area.

With Jim Ellis on the call, the midweek matchup will also be audio streamed live online at HailState.com/Plus and on TuneIn Radio.

TICKETS
General admission tickets for this Tuesday's game can be purchased through Nicholls State's website for $15 each. As part of Nicolls' "Taco Tuesday" promotion, fans can purchase $2 tacos at Ray E. Didier Field.

NEXT UP FOR MSU
After Tuesday's non-conference contest, State will return to SEC play on Thursday at No. 19 LSU (16-9) with a 7 p.m. CT first pitch on SEC Network. The series will continue on Friday at 7 p.m., before concluding at 2 p.m. on Saturday to also close out the Bulldogs' seven-game road swing.

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."