Diamond Dawgs Welcome Mount St. Mary’s To Dudy Noble Field

Thursday, February 29

Starkville

3 p.m.

Mississippi State

Mount St. Mary's (MD)

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Diamond Dawgs Welcome Mount St. Mary’s To Dudy Noble Field

February 28, 2024 | Baseball

MSU Game Notes Buy Tickets

STARKVILLE - The Mississippi State Bulldogs return to action on Thursday when they open a three-game series against Mount St. Mary's at Dudy Noble Field. This will be the first matchup since 2014. Thursday and Friday's first pitch are set for 3 p.m., while Saturday is set for 2 p.m.

The three-game series will be broadcast on SEC Network+. The series will also be carried on the Mississippi State Sports Network powered by Learfield along with a live audio stream via HailState.com/OnDemand.

Gameday Info
Thursday, Feb. 29 (3 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Nate Dohm, (1-0), RHP, Jr.
MSM: Tommy Moore, (1-0), RHP, Gr.

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Live Audio: hailst.at/audio
Live Stats: hailst.at/StatBroadcast

Friday, March 1 (3 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Khal Stephen, (0-1), RHP, Jr.
MSM: Brendan Yagesh, (0-1), LHP, So.

Live Video: hailst.at/3SZKoxb
Live Audio: hailst.at/audio
Live Stats: hailst.at/StatBroadcast

Saturday, March 2 (2 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Jurrangelo Cijntje, (1-0), BHP, So.
MSM: Kyle Speas, (0-0), LHP, So.

Live Video: hailst.at/3V4EX2i
Live Audio: hailst.at/audio
Live Stats: hailst.at/StatBroadcast

Promotions/Giveaways
Thursday, Feb. 29 – Student-only Belt Bag/Fanny Pack Giveaway.
Friday, March 1 – The first 250 fans can receive a State-To-The-Show Poster of Dakota Hudson.
Saturday, March 2 – Saturday is Kids Day at the Dude! Kids get to run the bases following the game.

Quick Hitters

Mississippi State continues its 12 game homestand this weekend with a three-game set against Mount St. Mary's. The Diamond Dawgs play 15 of their first 16 games at Dudy Noble Field this season.
Over the last five games, the Diamond Dawgs offense is coming to life. As a team, the Dawgs are hitting .325 with three players hitting .400 or better. Leading the way is Amani Larry, who is hitting .474 over this span. MSU's leadoff man has an on-base percentage of .577 over the span. He is not the only player with an on-base percentage over .500 as Hunter Hines is at a .520 clip.
Hunter Hines has showed his power over his first two seasons in the Maroon and White. He has hit 38 homers over that span. The 38 home runs are the third most by an active player in the SEC. Tommy White (52) and Jac Caglianone (41) are the only active players ahead of Hines. The 38 home runs are the seventh most by an active player in the division 1 baseball. Besides hitting for power, Hines has driven in 123 runs and is 59 RBIs away from joining the career RBI mark at MSU.
Nate Dohm was dominate in his second start of the year on Friday night. He pitched a MSU career-high of 6 2/3 innings, while striking out 10. This was the first time in his career that he had 10 or more strikeouts in an outing for the Diamond Dawgs. He limited the Eagles to four hits in the game.
After returning to the lineup four games ago, David Mershon has been swinging a hot bat for the Diamond Dawgs. The switch hitter from Taylors, S.C. is hitting .438 over the four games he appeared in this season. He had a four-hit game against Georgia Southern in the series finale. The four hits in a single game tied his career high. Currently, Mershon is on a four-game hitting streak. Besides collecting hits, Mershon is driving in runs. Over four games, he has nine RBIs, which is one off the team high. He drove in a career-high four runs against Jackson State on Tuesday night, three of which game on a bases clearing triple.
After missing the 2023 season due to injury, Brooks Auger has returned to the pen for the Diamond Dawgs in 2024. Prior to pitching opening weekend for the Dawgs, Augers last outing was April 14, 2022, against Auburn. He made his season debut against Air Force on Feb. 17. His longest outing of the season came on Feb. 20 when he pitched 2 2/3 of an inning against Austin Peay. Auger has pitched 5 1/3 innings this season and has only allowed three hits and has seven strikeouts.
The Dude Effect is alive and well. Reserved seating has once again sold out for the season. Mississippi State has sold out reserved seating since 1987.
Following a freshman season that saw Dakota Jordan show off his power by hitting tape measure homers, the sophomore is ready for his second season in the Maroon and White. On Feb. 9, Jordan was one of 55 players in the nation that were named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List. The Golden Spikes award to the best amateur baseball player in the nation. Jordan was named Third Team Preseason All-American by Baseball America. Jordan leads the team with two home runs this season.
Junior Cam Schuelke has been named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List. He is one of 73 relievers on the list. This season, Schuelke has been used three times out of the pen and has thrown 5.1 innings and has tallied six strikeouts.
Mississippi State is great at turning out major league talent, with 68 Diamond Dawgs reaching the highest level of the sport, but it is also great at keeping student-athletes on campus.

Scouting the Opponent – Mount St. Mary's

Mount St. Mary's enters the weekend coming off a loss to Richmond on Sunday, 9-8. The Mounts are 1-6 on the season as they enter the weekend series.
Tyler Long had a solid weekend at the plate, batting .400, while leading his team this season with a .323 average, a triple, and seven runs scored.
Aiden Tierney bats .310 early in the season with a home run at Richmond, two doubles, and four scores. Josh Braxton hit the first grand-slam of his collegiate career over the weekend at Richmond in the second inning of game three, he bats .250, with five RBI's.
Kyle Speas leads the Mount on the mound with an ERA of 3.12 through 8 2/3 innings, while having fanned eight batters. Deven Sheerin and Brendan Yagesh yield an ERA of 3.38, Yagesh shows seven strikeouts, while Sheerin has 17 through eight innings.

Series Notes

This weekend's three-game set against Mount St. Mary's will be the first meeting between these two programs since 2014 and the first three game series.
The previous two meetings were midweek games.
Mississippi State leads the series 2-0 and won the last meeting between these two programs

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