No. 29 Diamond Dogs Hit The Road For Two Against South Alabama
May 25, 2016 | Baseball
The Bulldogs and the Jaguars tangle Tuesday at 6:10 p.m. at Eddie StankyField in Mobile before carrying their baseball battle on to Jackson for a6:30 p.m. matchup at Smith-Wills Stadium.
MSU has tabbed freshman righthander John Lolar (3-0, 0.56) of Germantown,Tenn., for his third start of the year in Tuesday's game in Mobile, whilejunior lefty Brooks Dunn (3-1, 5.08) of Birmingham, Ala., is slated to drawhis sixth start of the campaign in Wednesday¹s Entergy College BaseballSeries game in Jackson.
South Alabama will formally dedicate the 3,500-seat renovated stadium atEddie Stanky Field in ceremonies prior to Tuesday's game. The facility isnamed after former Major League player and South Alabama head baseball coachEddie Stanky. Stanky and MSU skipper Ron Polk inaugurated the MSU-SouthAlabama baseball series in 1976, and with the exception of 2003, the teamshave met at least once each year since then. State holds a 33-22 all-timeseries edge over the Jaguars.
The Bulldogs will enter the week without the services of the team's tophitter, junior center fielder Joseph Hunter. The Germantown ,Tenn., productsustained a fractured thumb in State's 6-0 shutout win at Georgia Saturday,and is expected to be sidelined three to four weeks. Hunter leads the teamin batting average (.373), on-base percentage (.416), stolen bases (5) andsacrifice flies (4) while playing error-free defense in center field.
True freshman Mitch Moreland, a multi-position standout from Amory, Miss.,is expected to see his first collegiate action in the South Alabama seriesin Hunter's absence.
South Alabama enter the week having won eight of their last 10 games,including a three-game home series sweep over Sun Belt Conference foeArkansas-Little Rock last weekend. Junior third baseman David Freese pacesthe Jags with 57 hits, 37 RBI and a .380 batting average. South Alabama hasnot announced a starting pitcher for Tuesday night's game.
The Bulldogs enter the week ranked 29th by Collegiate Baseball.
State begins the second half of the 2005 SEC campaign at Dudy Noble Fieldthis weekend, hosting SEC East foe Kentucky in a three-game series. TheWildcats are coached by second-year skipper John Cohen, an All-SECoutfielder during his collegiate career at Mississippi State (1988-90).
