Diamond Dogs Entertain Golden Eagles Twice In Midweek
May 25, 2016 | Baseball
Freshman righthander John Lalor (3-0, 0.93) is set to make his fourth startof the campaign for MSU while USM has designated junior lefty Matt Caire(5-3, 5.09) for starting mound duty. Caire drew the start and took the lossin last Friday's rain-delayed series-opener against top-ranked Tulane.
Mississippi State, ranked 26th this week by Collegiate Baseball, notched itsfourth SEC series win at Dudy Noble Field over the weekend, overcoming a 2-0deficit in the ninth inning to take a series-clinching 3-2 win over Kentuckyin Sunday's series finale. Junior outfielder Brad Corley (.333) registeredhis fourth three-hit plate performance and his fourth game-winning RBI inthe last five games to keep State in the thick of the SEC Western Divisiontitle chase. State trails division-leading Alabama by 1-1/2 games and LSU bya half-game with four weekends of league play remaining.
Southern Miss dropped two of three games at home to Tulane, finishing theweekend with a 10-0 win over the Green Wave, the first shutout this seasonfor the Golden Eagle pitching staff.
Corley went 13-for-23 (.565) over the past five games, and his seventh RBIof the stretch was a game-winning ninth inning single in Sunday's comebackwin over Kentucky. Brad Jones (.319) saw his career-best 15-game hittingstreak come to an end in that game. Jones and junior catcher/third basemanThomas Berkery (.316) share the team lead with four home runs while berkerypaces the club with 35 RBI, a single-season career best.
Corky Palmer's USM squad features a potent offense that opens the week witha .317 team batting average. Junior first baseman/outfielder Marc Maddoxleads USM with a .369 batting average, a .485 on-base percentage and has 11of USM's 44 stolen bases. Fifth-year senior catcher Brad Willcutt (.335)leads the club with 12 home runs and 58 runs batted in.
MSU has won five of the last seven in the series, including a two-game sweep(18-9, 9-7) in Hattiesburg last year. State has won 39 of 50 series gamesplayed in Starkville.
Both teams resume league competition on the road this weekend. State visitsinstate SEC rival Mississippi in Oxford while USM treks to Louisville, Ky.,for a CUSA series against the Louisville Cardinals.
