No. 1 Bulldogs Tangle With No. 13 Tigers Friday At Alex Box
May 25, 2016 | Baseball
BATON ROUGE, La. - Riding the crest of a school-best 17-game season-opening win streak and a No. 1 national ranking, Mississippi State (17-0, 2-0 SEC) opens a three-game series against long-time divisional rival Louisiana State (18-5, 1-2 SEC) Friday at Alex Box Stadium.
The Bulldogs, who on Monday earned their first No. 1 national ranking (Baseball America) since 1993, take on the defending SEC Western Division co-champion and 13th-ranked Tigers Friday at 6:30 p.m. State senior lefty Brooks Dunn (4-0, 2.36) is matched with LSU lefty Daniel Forrer (1-0, 4.40) in the series-opener. The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. and concludes with a 1 p.m. contest Sunday.
MSU broke its school record for season-opening wins with last Saturday's series-clinching 4-3 win over Tennessee at Dudy Noble Field. The Bulldogs then notched their 16th straight win Tuesday with a 10-3 decision over visiting UAB, besting the school mark for consecutive wins.
Friday's game is the 348th baseball meeting between the long-time baseball rivals dating back to 1907. The teams split last year's four meetings, with the Bulldogs' two victories playing key roles in the team's advancement to 2005 postseason play. State's 5-3 Saturday win over the Tigers at Dudy Noble Field enabled the Bulldogs to nail down a No. 7 seeding in the 2005 SEC Baseball Tournament. And in the event's opening round, State prevailed 9-2 over LSU to begin a successful four-game tournament title run at the Hoover Met.
Senior co-captain Thomas Berkery, drawing starting duties at his fourth different position in the MSU infield in the last four years, paces State at the plate. The Sarasota, Fla., product leads State with a .415 batting average and enters the series riding a career-best and team-leading 14-game hitting streak. Right behind is sophomore catcher Edward Easley (.365), who owns a 12-game hitting streak and like Berkery has hit safely in 16 of MSU's first 17 games.
Senior center fielder Joseph Hunter (.333) has driven in 11 runs during a current six-game RBI streak and leads the team with 18 RBI. Hunter is one of nine Bulldogs who have combined for 11 home runs.
The team conducted a Thursday night practice at Alex Box Stadium with a visit from one of Mississippi State's most celebrated baseball players. MSU All-American and six-time major league all-star Will Clark, a member of the State team that opened the 1985 season with a school-record 14 straight wins, spoke to the team at the practice. Clark, a native of New Orleans, currently resides in Baton Rouge.
