Dogs Test UKats In Lexington
May 25, 2016 | Baseball
Mississippi State (19-10, 3-6 SEC) continues its current six-game road venture this weekend in Lexington, Ky., taking on SEC Eastern Division foe Kentucky (15-13, 2-7 SEC) in a three-game series at Cliff Hagan Stadium on the UK campus. Game times are 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Bulldogs enter the weekend buoyed by a pair of road wins over No. 11 Southern Miss (18-9, 9-7) during the midweek in Hattiesburg. Kentucky topped Cincinnati 8-4 in Lexington in the Wildcats' lone midweek competition.
THE RIVALRY -- The Diamond Dogs own a 45-22 lead in the all-time series with Kentucky, a rivalry that dates back to 1925.
MSU split last year's rain-abbreviated series in Starkville, winning 8-1 and bowing 2-8.
State has won 10 of the last 12 meetings and eight of the last 10 series with Kentucky.
MSU-UK TIES -- Kentucky's current head baseball coach, John Cohen has strong ties to Mississippi State. Cohen was an All-SEC outfielder on Ron Polk's 1988-90 teams and a teammate of current MSU assistant coach Tommy Raffo. Cohen, in his first season as UK head coach, followed another Polk protege, 25-year UK skipper Keith Madison. MSU assistant coach Daron Schoenrock shares ties with Kentucky. Coach Rock served on Madison's UK staff in 1988 and 1989.
WARMING UP -- The Bulldog bats heated up in two midweek games in Hattiesburg, where State registered its first two-game series sweep of the 11th-ranked Southern Miss Golden Eagles and in impressive fashion. State scored 27 runs on 35 hits -- five of them home runs, in topping USM 18-9 and 9-7.
The Bulldogs matched season highs for both hits (20) and runs scored (18) in the opener. Sophomore first baseman Brad Jones tied a school record with three home runs and drove in a career-best five runs in the game. Sophomore outfielder Joseph Hunter also turned in a 4-for-5 plate performance. The game featured a dramatic comeback for the Bulldogs, who fell behind 8-0 in the first inning (seven runs unearned). It was State's biggest reversal since erasing a 13-5 deficit en route to a 15-14 win over Rice in the 1998 NCAA Central Regional at College Station, Texas.
Jones went 5x10 (.600) and Hunter 5x9 (.556) in the two-game set.
WINS VS. RANKED FOES -- Four of Mississippi State's last six wins have come against teams ranked in the top 15 nationally (No. 1 LSU, No. 4 Mississippi and No. 11 Southern Miss). Mississippi State is 5-7 against ranked opponents, having also registered a win over No. 19 Tennessee. Still ahead on the schedule are No. 17 Florida (Apr. 16-18) and No. 16 Auburn (Apr. 23-25).
COMMON FOES -- To date the Bulldogs and the Wildcats have faced just one common foe -- Tennessee. State claimed one of three games with UT in Starkville Mar. 19-21 (4-9, 3-8 and 2-1) while UK dropped all three series matchups in Knoxville last weekend (2-3, 1-7 and 9-15).
DOGS HUNGRY FOR AN SEC SERIES WIN -- Mississippi State enters the weekend in search of its first conference series win this season. The Bulldogs have won one game in each of the first three series, winning once on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The 1987 Baseball Bulldog edition was the last MSU team that did not win at least one of its first three league series. That team went on to win the SEC and SEC Tournament championship.
NEXT HOME DATE -- Mississippi State welcomes former Bulldog assistant and head coach Pat McMahon back to Starkville when MSU entertains Florida in a three-game Super Bulldog Weekend series Apr. 16-18 at Dudy Noble Field. He's the last of four Polk proteges faced. The series' Saturday game (3 p.m., Apr. 17) will be televised by FOX/SEC-TV.
