Friday, May 11
Lexington, Ky.
6:30 PM
Mississippi State
at
Kentucky
State holds a 61-39 advantage over Kentucky in the all-time series that dates back to 1925.
Photo by: Nicole Reighter
Seven-Game Road Trip Concludes At No. 17 Kentucky
May 10, 2018 | Baseball
LEXINGTON, Ky. – With just six games remaining in the regular season, Mississippi State continues a pivotal stretch with a three-game series vs. No. 17 Kentucky this weekend at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
The Diamond Dawgs (27-22, 11-13 SEC) and Wildcats (31-17, 11-13 SEC) will face off with a Southeastern Conference series that will commence Friday at 6 p.m. CT. The series will resume and conclude Saturday at 4 p.m. CT and Sunday at 2 p.m. CT, respectively. Friday's opener will air on ESPNU, while SEC Network will televise the second and third games of the series.
With postseason hopes hinging on the performance of the Diamond Dawgs down the stretch, State has posted an 8-3 mark over its last 11 games, including three wins over Arkansas, one against Ole Miss and another vs. Texas A&M.
MSU is coming off of a walk-off midweek win over Troy in 10 innings on Wednesday night in Hoover, Ala. Elijah MacNamee, Jake Mangum and Rowdey Jordan each posted three-hit performances for the Bulldogs against the Trojans.
State holds a 61-39 advantage over Kentucky in the all-time series that dates back to 1925. Kentucky holds a 22-20 advantage in games played in Lexington as MSU hasn't won a series in Lexington since 2004. The Bulldogs have won three of the last four meetings with the Wildcats, including a series win in 2017 that saw MSU win games two and three in Starkville.
Game Notes | Live Stats
NEED TO KNOW
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday: MSU LHP Konnor Pilkington (2-5, 3.72 ERA) vs. UK RHP Sean Hjelle (6-4, 3.19 ERA)
Saturday: MSU LHP Ethan Small (5-3, 2.99 ERA) vs. UK LHP Zack Thompson (2-0, 4.98 ERA)
Sunday: MSU TBA vs. UK RHP Justin Lewis (7-3, 4.33 ERA)
WEATHER FORECAST
Friday Forecast: High 87, Low 67 – AM Thunderstorms – 40% Chance of Rain
Saturday Forecast: High 88, Low 65 – Partly Cloudy – 20% Chance of Rain
Sunday Forecast: High 89, Low 68 – Partly Cloudy – 20% Chance of Rain
LIVE VIDEO/TELEVISION
All three of this weekend's games will be nationally televised. Friday's game will air on ESPNU, with Saturday and Sunday's games to air on SEC Network. All three games will also be streamed live through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.
Watch Friday's Game | Watch Saturday's Game | Watch Sunday'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
All of this weekend's games will air live on the Mississippi State Baseball Radio Network and WKBB 100.9 in Starkville. With Jim Ellis on the call, the contests will also be audio streamed live online at HailState.com/Plus and on TuneIn Radio.
TICKETS
Tickets for all of this weekend's games are available for purchase online through Kentucky's website, starting at $8.
NEXT UP FOR MSU
State will conclude its regular season with a three-game series against defending national champion Florida. The three-game series at Dudy Noble Field will begin Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
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."
The Diamond Dawgs (27-22, 11-13 SEC) and Wildcats (31-17, 11-13 SEC) will face off with a Southeastern Conference series that will commence Friday at 6 p.m. CT. The series will resume and conclude Saturday at 4 p.m. CT and Sunday at 2 p.m. CT, respectively. Friday's opener will air on ESPNU, while SEC Network will televise the second and third games of the series.
With postseason hopes hinging on the performance of the Diamond Dawgs down the stretch, State has posted an 8-3 mark over its last 11 games, including three wins over Arkansas, one against Ole Miss and another vs. Texas A&M.
MSU is coming off of a walk-off midweek win over Troy in 10 innings on Wednesday night in Hoover, Ala. Elijah MacNamee, Jake Mangum and Rowdey Jordan each posted three-hit performances for the Bulldogs against the Trojans.
State holds a 61-39 advantage over Kentucky in the all-time series that dates back to 1925. Kentucky holds a 22-20 advantage in games played in Lexington as MSU hasn't won a series in Lexington since 2004. The Bulldogs have won three of the last four meetings with the Wildcats, including a series win in 2017 that saw MSU win games two and three in Starkville.
Game Notes | Live Stats
NEED TO KNOW
- In 19 of State's 27 wins thus far, opponents have been held to four runs or less. In three of the remaining six, opponents scored just five runs.
- The Diamond Dawgs have 15 comeback wins on the year (26 wins total), seven of which came in the month of March with the other five having come in April (three against Ole Miss and two against Arkansas). In 2017, 25 of State's 40 wins were come-from-behind victories.
- After an up-and-down journey through the first 38 games of the season, MSU showed glimpses of what it is capable of. After going 5-2 against Arkansas, Ole Miss and Texas A&M in April, State improved to 6-1 on the year against top-five teams with 11 wins against ranked opponents this season.
- Holding a RPI of 92 on April 1, State has climbed 57 spots to No. 35 in just over five weeks by posting a 10-6 mark in the month of April and a 3-1 record in May with eight of those wins having come against ranked teams, six against teams ranked in the top five and five against top-three teams.
- With six games remaining in the regular season, six of those games will come against teams with an RPI of 15 or better (No. 1 Florida and No. 15 Kentucky).
- Considering its cumulative opposition for the 2018 season, the Diamond Dawgs have the fourth-toughest schedule in all of Division I baseball with a winning percentage of .602 (1517-1007-1) on the year. State's six remaining regular-season games rank as the third-toughest remaining schedule in the country as future opposition has a .714 (210-84) winning percentage.
- MSU is 22-9 when holding opponents to five or less runs, 12-2 when holding others to two or less runs and 5-13 when allowing six or more runs. State is also 18-0 when scoring six or more runs, 16-3 when scoring first and 10-2 when having scored in the first inning.
- Having posted a 7-3 record over the last 10 games, the bats have been hot as seven different Bulldogs are averaging .333 or better at the plate during that stretch (Rowdey Jordan – .471, Marshall Gilbert - .379, Jake Mangum - .366, Tanner Allen - .357, Elijah MacNamee - .350, Hunter Stovall - .341 and Justin Foscue - .333). All seven have also recorded at least three extra-base hits and five RBIs over the last 10 games.
- Freshman Rowdey Jordan has continued his success at the plate this season as he's the only State freshman hitting above .300 on the year (.304 in 38 games played and 32 starts). Jordan leads MSU in batting average (.471), runs (12), hits (16), doubles (6), home runs (3), total bases (31), slugging (.912) and on-base percentage (.538) over the last 10 games.
- With 107 doubles on the year, State leads the SEC and ranks 11th in the country in the category. 13 different Diamond Dawgs have tallied a double on the year, with Jake Mangum's 18 being a team best. Mangum ranks second in the league, while Hunter Stovall is seventh with 14.
- Along with holding a league-best five triples, Tanner Allen ranks 22nd nationally in the category.
- Mangum's 72 hits are the second-most in the conference and rank 23rd in the country. Stovall ranks ninth in the SEC with 64 hits on the year.
- While Mangum leads MSU in multi-hit games (21), Hunter Stovall (17), Tanner Allen (17) and Josh Hatcher (11) are the next closest to their junior center fielder.
- The MSU pitching staff has combined for 10+ strikeouts in 17 games this season.
- State's staff has also collected 26 or more punch outs in seven of its last 10 weekend series, with five of those having been 29+ strikeout weekends. The Bulldogs most recently struck out Arkansas 29 times.
- MSU is second in the SEC in batters struck out looking (135), while Konnor Pilkington leads the league in strikeouts looking (32).
- State's staff also ranks fifth in the league in batters struck out (445).
- As a team, State leads the league and ranks 13th in the nation in fielding double plays (47).
- Stovall ranks second in the SEC in fielding double plays (39), while Luke Alexander ranks fifth in the conference (33) and Hatcher is 11th (25). State is one of two SEC teams with three players in the top 15 (Alabama).
- The MSU defense also leads the SEC in runners caught stealing with 21 and is fifth in the league in runners picked off with seven.
- In just 32 appearances this year, Marshall Gilbert is fourth in the conference with 11 runners caught stealing. Dustin Skelton ranks ninth with seven.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday: MSU LHP Konnor Pilkington (2-5, 3.72 ERA) vs. UK RHP Sean Hjelle (6-4, 3.19 ERA)
Saturday: MSU LHP Ethan Small (5-3, 2.99 ERA) vs. UK LHP Zack Thompson (2-0, 4.98 ERA)
Sunday: MSU TBA vs. UK RHP Justin Lewis (7-3, 4.33 ERA)
WEATHER FORECAST
Friday Forecast: High 87, Low 67 – AM Thunderstorms – 40% Chance of Rain
Saturday Forecast: High 88, Low 65 – Partly Cloudy – 20% Chance of Rain
Sunday Forecast: High 89, Low 68 – Partly Cloudy – 20% Chance of Rain
LIVE VIDEO/TELEVISION
All three of this weekend's games will be nationally televised. Friday's game will air on ESPNU, with Saturday and Sunday's games to air on SEC Network. All three games will also be streamed live through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.
Watch Friday's Game | Watch Saturday's Game | Watch Sunday'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
All of this weekend's games will air live on the Mississippi State Baseball Radio Network and WKBB 100.9 in Starkville. With Jim Ellis on the call, the contests will also be audio streamed live online at HailState.com/Plus and on TuneIn Radio.
TICKETS
Tickets for all of this weekend's games are available for purchase online through Kentucky's website, starting at $8.
NEXT UP FOR MSU
State will conclude its regular season with a three-game series against defending national champion Florida. The three-game series at Dudy Noble Field will begin Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
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."
Players Mentioned
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