State Squares Off vs. No. 12 Tennessee for #SBW15
April 16, 2015 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – For the 2015 installment of Super Bulldog Weekend, the Mississippi State softball team (31-13, 9-9 SEC) will play its fourth-straight ranked foe in No. 12 Tennessee (32-11, 8-7 SEC) this weekend at the MSU Softball Field.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday: vs. No. 12 Tennessee – 5:30 p.m. CT
Saturday: vs. No. 12 Tennessee – 6 p.m. CT
Sunday: vs. No. 12 Tennessee – 1 p.m. CT
FOLLOW LIVE
All three games this weekend will air on SEC Network+, exclusively through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. The voice of Bulldog softball, Anthony Craven, will have the call for all three games.
Watch Friday's Game | Watch Saturday's Game | Watch Sunday's Game
TICKET INFORMATION
Admission to all games at the MSU Softball Stadium is free and open to the public.
PROMOTIONS
For every SEC home game in 2015, one select fan can participate in the "3-Strike Challenge" in which the participant will have the opportunity to pitch three softballs underhand into a target for the change to win either $5,000, a $50 gift card or a Hail State softball t-shirt.
Friday: It will be the annual "Strike Out Cancer" game as the first 150 fans in attendance will receive a free pink shirt.
Saturday: The first 250 fans in attendance will receive a commemorative poster that will honor the four Bulldog seniors, Julia Echols, Erika Gaul, Katie Gentle and Ashley Phillips.
Sunday: The four State seniors will be recognized on the field prior to first pitch as part of the Senior Day festivities. As part of Kids Day at the Park, every Sunday home game includes free ice cream and face tattoos to those in attendance. Kids can run the bases with the Bulldogs postgame and play in the bounce house throughout the day. It will also be Bark in the Park as fans are welcome to bring their furry friends.
LAST TIME OUT
MSU most recently dropped a mid-week matchup with No. 22 South Alabama, 3-2, in Starkville. Sophomore Alexis Silkwood went the full seven innings in the circle for the Bulldogs, while sophomores Caroline Seitz and Katie Anne Bailey each delivered RBIs.
TEAM & PLAYER NOTES
· State is 5-1 under Vann Stuedeman during Super Bulldog Weekend including a series win over No. 2 Alabama in 2014 and a sweep of Kentucky in 2012.
· The Bulldogs have 14 come-from-behind wins in 2015 and 49 in the Stuedeman era.
· State is a perfect 17-0 when scoring first this season.
· MSU is 30-6 when scoring three or more runs and 27-7 when holding opponents to five or fewer runs. State is 7-9 vs. ranked opponents this season.
· With 10 regular-season games remaining in 2015, MSU has already broken its 2014 totals for home runs (41) and triples (12) and is on the cusp of surpassing its hits, doubles and RBI totals.
· The Bulldogs rank sixth in the Southeastern Conference in batting average (.320), fourth in hits (378), tied for third in doubles (66), fourth in triples (12) and tied for first in double plays (18).
· In the most recent NCAA RPI rankings, April 13, State fell one spot to No. 23, despite coming off of a four-game stretch in which it went 2-2 vs. teams in the top 9 in RPI.
· MSU is 7-8 vs. teams with RPIs in the top 25 this season and have three wins over teams in the top eight. This weekend, the Bulldogs will play three vs. another top 25 RPI team (No. 12 Tennessee)
· Senior Julia Echols went 5-for-5 on Saturday, April 11, at Mizzou, tying a program record for hits in a game. The record was initially set in 1998 by Shawna Feldt at Georgia Tech.
· Silkwood, who won two-straight SEC Pitcher of the Week honors (March 30 & April 6), ranks second in the conference in batters struck out (173), first in wins (22), first in innings pitched (183.0) and tied for fourth in saves (2). Silkwood's 22 wins is also fourth in all of Division I.
· Bailey ranks tied for second in the league in triples (6) and leads the league in runners caught stealing (13).
· Seitz ranks tied for third in the SEC in doubles (13), tied for 13th in home runs home runs (11) and 15th in RBI (43), she also leads the team in all three categories.
· Echols is riding a streak of 22-straight games having reached base safely, an active team best.
SERIES HISTORY
Tennessee leads the series history 31-17 between the two sides and holds a 14-6 edge in games played in Starkville. In the 2014 series in Knoxville, State took two of three for the series win after Silkwood opened the series with a three-hit shutout of the Vols in the Friday night contest. Seitz helped MSU take the series on Sunday with a 3-for-5 performance and two RBIs.
ON DECK FOR MSU
State will close out its 2015 home season against the Memphis Tigers on Wednesday, April 22 at 6 p.m. CT. It will also serve as the final game at the MSU Softball Field as construction for the Bulldogs' new facility will begin on Monday, April 27 on the same land that the current facility stands.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on the MSU softball program, follow "HailStateSB" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can also find all-access coverage of the Bulldogs on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."
