No. 5 Diamond Dogs Back At Home For SEC Series With Kentucky
May 25, 2016
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STARKVILLE, Miss. -- After two successful weekends of conference play on the road, Mississippi State's fifth-ranked Baseball Bulldogs return to Southeastern Conference action at Dudy Noble Field this weekend, opening a three-game series with SEC East foe Kentucky (11-17, 0-9) Friday at 6:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs (23-4-1, 8-1 SEC) enter the fourth weekend of league play atop the Southeastern Conference standings. Last weekend in Oxford, Miss., MSU captured its third consecutive conference series of the year (2-0, 7-0, 8-4) and its second straight on the road with a sweep of the No. 29 Mississippi Rebels, giving the Bulldogs a half-game lead over preseason divisional favorite LSU (7-1-1). In that series State notched back-to-back SEC shutouts (Paul Maholm & Papelbon and SEC Pitcher of the Week Alan Johnson) for the first time since 1990 and back-to-back series sweeps in the rivalry for the first time since 1979.
Maholm (4-1, 1.50) will take the hill for the Diamond Dogs in Friday's series opener opposite Wildcat sophomore right-hander Scott Wade (1-3, 3.56).
Mississippi State had its nine-game winning streak snapped with a 5-1 loss to Mississippi in the 24th annual Mayor's Trophy Game Wednesday night at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson. Still, State has won 17 of its last 20 games and posted a 19-2-1 record in March, one of the program's best Marches on record.
Friday's UK-MSU battle begins a season-longest eight-game homestand for Mississippi State. SU takes a midseason break from nonconference midweek competition next week before playing host to SEC Western Division rival Auburn (25-6, 7-2 SEC) on Super Bulldog Weekend. The Tigers are ranked sixth nationally heading into their home series this weekend with Alabama (20-8, 5-4 SEC).
With wins in nine of their last 10 series meetings, the Bulldogs own a 44-21 all-time series lead against the Kentucky Wildcats. State claimed two games in last year's series in Lexington, splitting a Saturday twinbill (4-2 and 7-8) and clinching the series with a Sunday win (13-3). MSU owns a 29-7 series in games played in Starkville and has won 12 of the 15 series since 1986. Kentucky's lone series win in Starkville was a 2-1 showing in 1998 (2-3, 3-2, 12-9). Kentucky is coached by Keith Madison, who launched his collegiate coaching career under Ron Polk as a graduate assistant coach at MSU in 1978. Earlier this week Madison announced plans to step down as Kentucky baseball coach at the conclusion of the season, his 25th at UK.
Mississippi State's 23-4-1 overall record represents the Bulldogs' best start since the 1979 season when Polk's first SEC championship and NCAA College World Series edition opened the year at 29-3. State's 28-game record tops the 23-5 starts of the 1985, 1989, 1999 and 2000 MSU clubs. State's 8-1 SEC record stands as its best start in SEC competition since the 1989 club opened the year with a 14-1 league mark. The '79 team was 12-1. With last weekend's sweep at Mississippi, the Bulldogs have for the first time registered road sweeps on back-to-back weekends in league play.
The Diamond Dogs have climbed into the top 10 rankings of all four major college baseball polls -- No. 5 (Baseball America, Sports Weekly/ESPN and NCBWA) and No. 6 (Collegiate Baseball). It represents MSU's highest ranking since the 1993 campaign, also the last year that Mississippi State held a No. 1 ranking in baseball.
The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. and concludes with a 1:30p.m. game Sunday.