Diamond Dogs Host Kentucky To Open Second Half Of SEC Season
May 25, 2016 | Baseball
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STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State opens the second half of the 2005SEC baseball season this weekend at Dudy Noble Field when the 29th-rankedDiamond Dogs (25-10, 7-7 SEC) entertain the Kentucky Wildcats (19-17, 2-12SEC) in a three-game series. Friday's opener is set for 6:30 p.m. and allthree weekend games will be broadcast on the statewide MSU Baseball RadioNetwork.
MSU swept a pair of midweek games on the road against South Alabama,.besting the Jaguars in Mobile, Ala., 10-6 Tuesday night and then completingthe series sweep with a 2-1 verdict Wednesday night at Smith-Wills Stadiumin Jackson, Miss. With the wins the Bulldogs have won eight of their last 11games and improved to 18-3 in non-conference competition. State enters theweekend 1-1/2 games behind divisional leader Alabama in a tight SEC WesternDivision race.
Senior righthander Alan Johnson (2-4, 3.28) will open on the hill for theBulldogs Friday, while Kentucky will counter with junior righthander KalenGibson (4-1, 5.01). The Bulldog pitching staff has held opponents to fiveruns or less in 16 of their last 19 games and enters the weekend with a 3.22earned run average against conference opponents, second-best in theSoutheastern Conference.
Junior first baseman Brad Jones (.328) enters the weekend swinging the hotbat for the Bulldogs. The Orlando, Fla., product will be looking to extend acareer-longest matching 13-game hitting streak, also second-longest streakby a Bulldog this season. Jones has hit .469 with 10 RBI and sevenextra-base hits during the run. He matched a career-high with a four-hit,three-RBI performance in State¹s 10-6 win Tuesday at South Alabama.
Bulldog junior rightfielder Brad Corley (.318), who hit five home runsagainst Kentucky in Lexington last year, has hit safely in a team-best 28 ofMSU's 35 games and doubled in the winning run in both MSU wins over SouthAlabama.
MSU opens the weekend with a realigned outfield. With starting centerfielder Joseph Hunter (.373) out of the lineup for three to four weeks witha fractured thumb, MSU has shifted junior Jeff Butts from left to center andactivated true freshman Mitch Moreland. The former Amory (Miss.) High Schoolstandout was inline for a year as a redshirt until Hunter¹s injury. Morelandlaced a double in his first career at-bat and later drew an intentional walkin his debut night as a Bulldog.
The series marks Dudy Noble Field return of former Bulldog standout JohnCohen, in his second season as head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats. Cohen, anative of Tuscaloosa, Ala., was an All-SEC outfielder for the Bulldogsduring his collegiate career at State (1988-90). Prior to assuming hispresent post at UK, Cohen served for two seasons as an assistant coach underPat McMahon at the University of Florida, was head baseball coach atNorthwestern (La.) State for four seasons, and served as an assistant coachat Missouri from 1992 to 1997.
The Bulldogs and the Wildcats meet in a 2 p.m. game Saturday beforeconcluding their weekend series with a 1:30 p.m. matinee matchup Sunday.
MSU/KENTUCKY WEEKEND PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday, 6:30 p.m.: MSU - Sr. RHP Alan Johnson (2-4, 3.28 ERA) | UK - Jr. RHPKalen Gibson (4-1, 5.01 ERA)
Saturday, 2:00 p.m.: MSU - Sr. RHP Todd Doolittle (4-3, 3.57 ERA) | UK -Undecided
Sunday, 1:30 p.m.: MSU - So. Jon Crosby (5-1, 2.89 ERA) | UK - Undecided