No. 9 Diamond Dogs Open Road Swing Against Memphis At AutoZone Park
May 25, 2016 | Baseball
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- With wins in seven of its last eight games, No. 9 Mississippi State (13-2-1, 2-1 SEC) embarks on a season-longest run of road games when MSU travels to Memphis, Tenn., March 18-19 for a pair of games against the University of Memphis (5-10) and then on to Fayetteville, Ark., March 21-23 for a three-game weekend set with SEC Western Division foe Arkansas (16-2, 2-1 SEC). Both midweek games at Memphis have 7 p.m. starts and will be played at AutoZone Park, the home of the Memphis Redbirds, the St. Louis Cardinals' affiliate in the Pacific Coast League (AAA).
Junior right-hander Jeff Lacher (1-0, 3.60) has been tabbed as MSU's starter in Tuesday's game against Memphis, working opposite former Bulldog Michael Novarese (1-2, 10.03). Lacher scattered eight hits and struck out six in a career-longest eight-inning start last that earned him his first win of the year last week at New Orleans.
The series in Memphis marks the first Bulldog baseball battles with the Tigers since 2000, when MSU topped the Tigers 14-2 and 4-1 in Millington, Tenn. State has won seven straight and eight of the last 10 meetings in building a 37-19 series lead (11-7 in Memphis).
MSU won its third straight weekend series and successfully opened the 2003 Southeastern Conference season last weekend, topping SEC East foe Vanderbilt twice in three games (5-4 -- 13 innings, 3-4, 9-1).
Mississippi State's early-season success is reflected in college baseball's latest national rankings. State climbed a notch to No. 9 in this week's Collegiate Baseball magazine poll and three spots to No. 12 by Baseball America. State?s highest ranking last week was No. 8 in the NCBWA writers poll.
Bulldog DH Brent Lewis and third baseman Steve Gendron are swinging the hot bats for the Bulldogs of late. Lewis compiled a team-best .667 batting average (6-of-9) with a double, triple, a career-first grand slam, five RBI and three walks in the past week (1.333 SL%, .750 OB%). Gendron hit at a .476 clip with a team-best 10 hits, five runs scored and three stolen bases. MSU enters the week with a .317 team batting average.
MSU-LANY -- Five Bulldogs finished their prep careers in the Memphis area -- Joseph Hunter, Brent Lewis, and Paul Maholm (Germantown HS), Jon Mungle (Houston HS) and Joey Collums (Evangelical Christian HS) ... The Bulldogs enter the week with a perfect 3-0 road record in the early going of the 2003 campaign, with wins at then-27th-ranked UAB (14-5) and at New Orleans (7-2, 9-4) ... No. 22 Arkansas (16-2, 2-1) represents the second ranked opponent and the first foe ranked in the top 25 faced by Mississippi State this season ... Paul Maholm's career-longest 10-inning pitching performance last Friday against Vanderbilt stands as the longest pitching stint by an SEC pitcher this year ... Last Friday's 5-4 win over Vandy represented the longest game of the year for the Bulldogs in both innings (13) and time of game (3:39) ... MSU has won eight of nine against teams from Tennessee (East Tennessee State, Lipscomb University, Vanderbilt) this year.
