Diamond Dawgs Close Seven-Game Road Trip At No. 19 LSU

Thursday, March 29

Baton Rouge, La.

7:00 PM

Mississippi State

#19 LSU

The Diamond Dawgs and Tigers will play a Thursday-Saturday series this weekend.

Photo by: Nicole Reighter

Diamond Dawgs Close Seven-Game Road Trip At No. 19 LSU

March 28, 2018 | Baseball

Game Notes (PDF)

BATON ROUGE, La. – To close out the month of March, Mississippi State will also close out a stretch of seven-straight road games with a three-game Southeastern Conference series at No. 19 LSU at Alex Box Stadium.

The Diamond Dawgs (13-3, 1-5 SEC) will play their second-straight SEC road series with an Easter-weekend showdown against the Tigers (16-10, 3-3 SEC). The action begins Thursday at 7 p.m. CT with a nationally-televised tilt on SEC Network. The series continues on Friday with a 7 p.m. first pitch on SEC Network+, before concluding Saturday at 2 p.m. on SEC Network+.

MSU holds a 211-179-1 advantage over LSU in the all-time series between the two programs, with the Tigers leading the series 96-86 in games played in Baton Rouge. The two sides most recently met in a 2017 NCAA Super Regional series at Alex Box Stadium that saw LSU sweep the best-of-three series that sent the Tigers to the College World Series. While LSU has won the last seven meetings between the two sides, State won the last regular-season series in Baton Rouge by winning the first two games in 2016.

Game Notes | Live Stats

NEED TO KNOW

In 12 of State's 13 wins thus far, opponents have been held to four runs or less.
The Diamond Dawgs have seven comeback wins on the year, all of which have come in the month of March. In 2017, 25 of State's 40 wins were come-from-behind victories.
MSU is 12-6 when holding opponents to five or less runs, 9-1 when holding others to two or less runs and 1-6 when allowing six or more runs. State is also 7-2 when scoring first and 6-2 when having scored in the first inning.
The MSU pitching staff has combined for 10+ strikeouts in nine games this season.
With 29 strikeouts last weekend at No. 25 Missouri, the MSU pitching staff has collected 29+ punch outs in four-straight weekend series.
While Jake Mangum leads MSU in multi-hit games (14), Josh Hatcher (10), Hunter Stovall (10) and Tanner Allen (9) aren't far behind their junior center fielder.
Stovall entered the week swinging a hot bat after hitting .458 (11-for-24) with two doubles, five runs scored and six RBIs over five games last week.
MSU leads the SEC in batters struck out looking (86), while Konnor Pilkington leads the league in strikeouts looking (22) and Ethan Small ranks fifth (15).
State's staff also ranks second in the league in batters struck out (259).
Pilkington also ranks seventh in all of Division I baseball and second in the SEC with a 12.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Hatcher has recorded the most fielding double plays in the SEC (22), while Stovall ranks second (21).
As a team, State ranks second in the league and 18th in the nation in fielding double plays (25).
39 strikeouts over the three-game stretch that was the Shriner's College Classic (March 2-4) at Minute Maid Park made for the most in a three-game weekend series by a Diamond Dawg pitching staff since 45 on March 2-3, 2002 against Jacksonville State (doubleheader on March 2).
The Diamond Dawgs got off to an 0-3 start for the first time since 1996, a year that saw State go on to finish 38-24 (17-13 SEC) and make one of its 36 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances.
A total of 12 newcomers have made their MSU debut thus far in 2018 (Tanner Allen, Jordan Anderson, JP France, Justin Foscue, Marshall Gilbert, Josh Hatcher, Rowdey Jordan, Jared Liebelt, Cole Marsh, Zach Neff, Alex Pener and Jordan Westburg), 10 of those have also recorded a start in 2018.

PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday: MSU LHP Konnor Pilkington (1-3, 1.82 ERA) vs. LSU RHP Zack Hess (3-3, 5.68 ERA)
Saturday: MSU LHP Ethan Small (1-2, 2.73 ERA) vs. LSU RHP Caleb Gilbert (3-1, 3.86 ERA)
Sunday: MSU RHP Jacob Billingsley (2-1, 3.96 ERA) vs. LSU RHP Ma'Khail Hilliard (5-1, 0.92 ERA)

WEATHER FORECAST
Thursday Forecast: High 72, Low 56 – Thunderstorms – 100% Chance of Rain
Friday Forecast: High 76, Low 51 – Sunny – 20% Chance of Rain
Saturday Forecast: High 78, Low 53 – Sunny – 10% Chance of Rain

LIVE VIDEO/TELEVISION
Thursday's series opener will be nationally televised on SEC Network, with Friday's and Saturday's games to air live on SEC Network+, which can be accessed through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. Those interested in watching this weekend's games can click on the links below to go directly to the viewing page for the respective games.

Watch Thursday's Game | Watch Friday's Game | Watch Saturday's Game

LIVE STATS
All season long, fans can follow the action with pitch-by-pitch updates through live stats. Visit the Diamond Dawgs' schedule page and click on the "Live Stats" link associated with the appropriate game.

LIVE AUDIO & RADIO
As a result of the MSU women's basketball team playing in the Final Four on Friday, the second game of the series can only be heard through WKBB-FM (100.9) or WLZA-FM (96.1) in the Starkville area. Thursday's and Saturday's games are scheduled to air live on the Mississippi State Baseball Radio Network and WKBB 100.9 in Starkville.

With Jim Ellis on the call, all three games will also be audio streamed live online at HailState.com/Plus and on TuneIn Radio.

TICKETS
Tickets for this weekend's games can be purchased in advance through LSU's website.

NEXT UP FOR MSU
State will return home for a brief four-game homestand, beginning Wednesday, April 5 with a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch at Dudy Noble Field. A crawfish boil will be held for MSU students in right field while supplies last.

FOLLOW THE DIAMOND DAWGS
For more information on the Diamond Dawg program, follow the program on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateBB." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."