Diamond Dogs Open Weekend Series In Arkansas
March 25, 2005 | Baseball
Friday's series opener begins a run of nine consecutive games away fromhome for the Diamond Dogs. MSU Takes on No. 8 Mississippi next Tuesdayin the 26th Entergy Mayor's Trophy Game at Smith-Wills Stadium inJackson, then continues SEC road play with a three-game weekend series atTennessee. State returns to Jackson Apr. 5-6 to take on Samford andBirmingham-Southern.
The Bulldogs and the Razorbacks enter the weekend with identical 2-1league records. State took games two and three last weekend at home fromthen-17th-ranked Vanderbilt while Arkansas claimed their Friday andSunday battles at then-second-ranked South Carolina. Both teamsregistered a pair of midweek wins over non-conference foes fromneighboring Louisiana. MSU topped New Orleans 5-1 and 8-4 at Dudy NobleField while the Razorbacks became the SEC's first 20-game winner with10-1 and 14-1 wins against Centenary in Shreveport, La.
Johnson will be making his third career start against Arkansas. ThePleasant Grove, Ala., product worked 6.0 innings and earned the win inState's series-clinching 8-3 Saturday win over the Razorbacks in 2003.MSU went on to register its first series sweep of the Razorbacks inFayetteville that weekend. Johnson came within an out of a complete-gameeffort against Arkansas last spring in Starkville, allowing two runs onnine hits. State won that game series-opening game 3-2 at Dudy NobleField with Saunders Ramsey getting the win in relief.
Bulldog center fielder Joseph Hunter (.433) entered the week witht heSEC's second-highest batting average. The junior from Germantown, Tenn.,is riding a career-best and team season-high 14-game hitting streak.
Arkansas, currently hitting at a .337 clip, is paced at the plate bythe SEC's leading hitter, senior center fielder Casey Rowlett (.506).Eight of the nine starters in the UA batting order have hit home runsthis year, including five by sophomore right fielder Jake Dugger. Duggeralso leads the Hogs with 30 RBI.
All three games of the MSU-Arkansas series can be heard on thestatewide MSU Baseball Radio Network, which is also available on theofficial web site of the MSU Athletic Department,www.MStateAthletics.com
