Diamond Dawgs Announce Full 2023 Slate
October 04, 2022 | Baseball
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's full 2023 baseball schedule is now set.
The Southeastern Conference revealed the revised league slate on Tuesday (Oct. 4), solidifying MSU's 56-game regular season that features 33 home dates at Dudy Noble Field.
Home SEC series against Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Texas A&M, along with an early-March trip to the state of Texas for the Frisco College Baseball Classic highlight the upcoming campaign.
State will face 10 different opponents that were 2022 NCAA Tournament participants, including seven that reached the Super Regional round and five that advanced to the College World Series.
The Bulldogs start the year with an eight-game homestand. Opening Day is set for Friday, Feb. 17, as MSU welcomes Virginia Military Institute to Starkville for a three-game weekend series. Following a pair of home midweek games against ULM, State hosts Arizona State for three games from Feb. 24-26 ahead of hitting the road for the first time.
In-state foe Southern Miss will meet the Bulldogs at Trustmark Park in Pearl on Feb. 28 before MSU heads to Frisco. MSU will tangle with a trio of formidable foes in the Lone Star State, starting with Ohio State on March 3, then Oklahoma and California respectively over the next two days.
On March 7, State returns to Starkville for a brief four-game stretch of home games that starts with Valparaiso. The Diamond Dawgs will then challenge Lipscomb from March 10-12.
MSU's final two games before league play come at MGM Park in Biloxi. State takes on Nicholls on March 14 and Louisiana-Lafayette on March 15. Then SEC action arrives.
Kentucky stands as MSU's first conference opponent. The Bulldogs and Wildcats will tangle in Lexington from March 17-19. It will mark State's first trip to Lexington since 2018. The Dawgs have won four straight over the Wildcats dating back to that season.
Beginning with a March 21 midweek game against Arkansas State, MSU starts its longest homestand of the season. The Bulldogs will play nine straight at home from March 21 through April 2.
After Arkansas State, MSU welcomes Vanderbilt to Dudy Noble Field from March 24-26 for the two schools' first meeting since the Bulldogs defeated the Commodores in the finals of the 2021 College World Series to claim a national championship.
Then, a home midweek battle versus Samford precedes a March 31-April 2 home series against South Carolina. MSU has won three straight home series over the Gamecocks, with the last meeting in Starkville coming during the 2019 season.
The Bulldogs close out the homestand with an April 4 game against Grambling, then head across the state line for four contests.
MSU faces Alabama in Tuscaloosa from April 6-8. The Bulldogs are 9-1 in the last 10 meetings against the Crimson Tide, including a series victory in Starkville last season.
Before returning home, State will trek to Birmingham for an April 11 contest at UAB.
The Bulldogs will get back to Dudy Noble with a bang. From April 14-16, State hosts in-state rival Ole Miss as part of Super Bulldog Weekend. Last season, the Diamond Dawgs traveled to Oxford and took two of three from the Rebels at Swayze Field.
MSU then hosts Southern on April 18 preceding an April 21-23 series at Auburn. The Diamond Dawgs enter that series having won eight of the last 10 meetings over the Tigers, including taking two of three over Auburn in Starkville last season.
Mississippi State and Ole Miss meet up once again on April 25 at Trustmark Park in Pearl. The matchup is the annual Governor's Cup game. While not counting in the SEC standings, MSU has won the Governor's Cup four of the last five times the game has been played.
Six straight conference games then follow. MSU is at Tennessee from April 28-30 and the Diamond Dawgs host Arkansas from May 5-7. State has won two of the last three road series against Tennessee. Against Arkansas, MSU won the most recent meeting, 5-3, in 12 innings.
The Memphis Tigers come to Starkville for a midweek game on May 9, then State heads out for its final road trip of the regular season.
MSU heads to LSU from May 12-14. The Bulldogs took two out of three the last time they trekked to Baton Rouge.
State's final four regular season games are all at home. The Bulldogs wrap up non-conference play with a May 16 game against North Alabama, then close out the schedule with a series against Texas A&M from May 18-20. The last time MSU hosted the Aggies resulted in a series sweep for the Diamond Dawgs during the 2021 campaign.
Then comes the postseason.
The SEC Tournament will once again be held at the Hoover Met in Hoover, Alabama, from May 23-28. The NCAA Tournament will follow in the month of June.
Note this schedule is subject to change due to television, including the move of some conference series to accommodate a Thursday start.
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