Baseball to Host Louisiana on Saturday in Fall Exhibition

The gates to Dudy Noble Field will be open for fall baseball on Saturday (Oct. 5), as the Mississippi State baseball program will host the University of Louisiana Lafayette in fall exhibition scrimmage beginning at 1 p.m.

Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics

Baseball to Host Louisiana on Saturday in Fall Exhibition

October 03, 2019 | Baseball

Live Stats Game Notes (PDF)

Diamond Dawgs and Ragin’ Cajuns will square off in fall exhibition with a 1 p.m. first pitch at Dudy Noble Field

by: Greg Campbell, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – The gates to Dudy Noble Field will be open for fall baseball on Saturday (Oct. 5), as the Mississippi State baseball program will host the University of Louisiana Lafayette in fall exhibition scrimmage beginning at 1 p.m.

Admission is free and gates will open at noon in front of the 1 p.m. first pitch between the Bulldogs and Ragin' Cajuns. The stadium will close one hour following the final out. Restrooms and limited concession options will be available during the game.

Stadium Information
Fans can enter the facility through the three main entrances: home plate gates, right field gates and left field lounge gates.

Premium areas – The Rooftop, Omaha Club, Triple Crown Club and all suites – will not be accessible during the game, however the Left Field Lounge boxes will be open.

Parking on campus is open on the weekends, except for in specified parking lots. Fans are encouraged to park in the lots located off of Lakeview Road, across from Humphrey Coliseum and the right field entrance to Dudy Noble Field. More information regarding parking on the Mississippi State campus can be found by clicking here.

Scouting the Cajuns

Louisiana posted a 28-31 overall record in 2019 and finished 15-15 in the Sun Belt.
The Ragin Cajuns have appeared in the NCAA postseason five times since 2010 and own one College World Series appearance (2000).
Head coach Matt Deggs takes over the helm of the program for the 2020 season, after leading Sam Houston State to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons as the head coach. Deggs helped SHSU to 2017 Tallahassee Super Regional.
Deggs was an assistant coach at Louisiana from 2012-14, before taking the head coaching post at Sam Houston State.
Hayden Cantrelle is the team's leading returning hitter at .306, while his 15 doubles, 28 stolen bases and 56 runs scored also led the team in 2019.
The Ragin' Cajuns also return most of their innings pitched from a year ago, with 383 2/3 of their 530 2/3 innings returning in 2020 (72 percent).
Jacob Schultz and Austin Perrin both threw 65-plus innings last season. Schultz led the squad in ERA (3.65) last season, while Perrin paced the Cajuns in starts (10), innings pitched (67 2/3) and wins (4).
Brandon Young also returns on the mound after leading the team in strikeouts (72) and limiting the opposition to just a .208 batting average in 54 1/3 innings.

Dawg Bites

Mississippi State was 52-15 overall last season and 20-10 in SEC play, which tied for the SEC West Division title. The Diamond Dawgs swept through the NCAA Regional and Super Regional rounds on the way to the program's 11th trip to the College World Series.
MSU is coming off of its second straight trip to the College World Series, marking just the second time in program history that MSU made consecutive trips to Omaha. The Diamond Dawgs also made back-to-back appearances at the CWS in 1997 and 1998.
Head coach Chris Lemonis posted the most wins by a first-year SEC head coach in the conference's history with the 52 victories. He is also just the third head coach in SEC history to reach the College World Series in his first season as a head coach in the conference.
Tanner Allen and Justin Foscue each earned first-team All-SEC in 2019 and were selected as All-Americans at season's end. Allen's 66 RBIs led the team last season, while Foscue had a team-best 14 home runs and 155 total bases.
National Freshman of the Year JT Ginn returns for his second season with the Maroon and White after posting an 8-4 record on the mound. He piled up 105 strikeouts, which ranked second among freshman in the NCAA last season, in 86.1 innings of work. He walked just 19 batters and allowed 12 total extra base hits on the season.
Jordan Westburg and Rowdey Jordan also return to solidify the core of the roster along with fellow juniors Allen and Foscue. Westburg piled up 21 doubles, scored 68 runs and drove in 61 last season, while Jordan plated 49 RBIs and scored 55 runs in 66 starts.
Overall, Mississippi State welcomed 23 newcomers to campus this fall, with 13 freshman, eight junior college transfers and two graduate transfers added to the program.
The 2019 recruiting class was ranked No. 6 nationally by Baseball American and No. 7 in the NCAA by Perfect Game and includes six student-athletes that sat among Baseball America's final Top 500 for the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft: Will Bednar (No. 190), Landon Sims (No. 198), Logan Tanner (No. 312), KC Hunt (No. 313), Kyte McDonald (No. 415) and Davis Rokose (No. 480).
Among the eight junior college transfers, Brandon Pimentel and Houston Harding each earned National Junior College Athletic Association All-America honors. Jared Shemper was selected to NJCAA USA National Team in 2018 and competed at the National Baseball Congress World Series. Four-year transfers David Dunlavey and Carlisle Koestler will also add depth to the pitching staff, as each pitched in the weekend rotations at their previous stops.