State Concludes Non-Conference Home Slate Tuesday Against UT-Martin
May 25, 2016 | Baseball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State puts the finishing touches on its 2006 regular season non-conference baseball schedule Tuesday night, hosting the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks in a 6:30 p.m. contest at Dudy Noble Field. The UT-Martin game begins a four-game home stretch for the Diamond Dogs (33-19, 11-15 SEC), who close out conference play hosting instate SEC rival Mississippi in a first-ever Thursday-Friday-Saturday SEC series in Starkville.
Tuesday's game will be broadcast on the statewide MSU Baseball Radio Network with live video streaming available on a subscription basis on "Maroon to the Max", the premium extension of the Mississippi State athletic department web site (www.MStateAthletics.com).
Junior right-hander Jon Crosby (2-0, 3.90) is scheduled to make his sixth start of the season in Tuesday's game against the Skyhawks (19-32). UT-Martin, which closes out Ohio Valley Conference competition this weekend at OVC-leading Samford, has not declared a Tuesday starter.
State senior shortstop Thomas Berkery (.383) opens the week sporting the Southeastern Conference's highest batting average and riding a team-best 10-game hitting streak. It's the second double-digit hitting streak for the Sarasota, Fla., product, who earlier this season set a school record with a 30-game hitting streak, the longest in the SEC this season.
MSU also leads the Southeastern Conference with 64 double plays, five short of the school record set by MSU's 1997 club which advanced to the NCAA College World Series.
With one weekend of league competition remaining, Mississippi State is tied with Tennessee (30-21, 11-15 SEC) for ninth place in the overall Southeastern Conference standings, a half-game behind eighth-place Louisiana State (33-19, 12-15 SEC). The teams with the top eight winning percentages in league competition continue play in the SEC Baseball Tournament May 24-28 in Hoover, Ala. MSU qualified for the SEC Tournament on the final weekend of play a year ago and went on to capture its sixth league tournament championship with four consecutive wins.
The Bulldogs are 22-4 in non-conference games this season, including a 16-0 non-conference record at Dudy Noble Field.
