Diamond Dawgs Host Georgia In SEC Play

STARKVILLE – The Mississippi State Diamond Dawgs are back at Dudy Noble Field for a three-game SEC series against the Georgia Bulldogs with action starting on Friday night. First pitch Friday is set for 6 p.m., 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

Friday and Sunday's games will be aired on SECN+ and Saturday's game will be broadcasted on SECN and will also be carried on the Bulldog Sports Network powered by LEARFIELD, along with a live audio stream via HailState.com/OnDemand.

Gameday Info
Friday, Apr. 5 (6 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Khal Stephen (3-2, 4.00 ERA), RHP, Jr.
Georgia: Charlie Goldstein (4-0, 4.08 ERA), LHP, Gr.

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Live Stats: hailst.at/StatBroadcast

Saturday, Apr. 6 (7 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Jurrangelo Cijntje (5-1, 3.43 ERA), BHP, So.
Georgia: Leighton Finley (2-1, 5.14 ERA), RHP, So.

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

Sunday, Apr. 7 (1 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: TBD
Georgia: TBD

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Promotions/Giveaways
Friday, Apr. 5 – The first 500 fans can receive a Pinstripe Cowbell Keychain.
Saturday, Apr. 6 - The first 250 fans can receive a State-To-The-Show Poster of Chris Stratton.
Sunday, Apr. 7 - Sunday is Kids Day at the Dude! Kids get to run the bases following the game.

Quick Hitters

For the third straight week, the Diamond Dawgs find themselves in the national rankings. The Diamond Dawgs came in at No. 23 by D1 Baseball, No. 19 by Baseball America.
On April 4, Jordan was named to the Golden Spikes Midseason Award Watch List. He is one of 45 players on the list and the ninth Dawg in program history to be named to this list. His 42 RBIs are the 11th most in the NCAA, only nine behind that national leader. His 14 homers are the eighth most in the NCAA this season and the third most in the SEC. Jordan has the eighth best batting average in the SEC hitting. 378 this season. Teams have walked Jordan 30 times this season, with 10 being intentional walks. This is the second most in the SEC and the 15th most walks in the NCAA.
The Diamond Dawgs' power is starting to come out this season. This season, MSU has hit 34 home runs and is led in bombs by Dakota Jordan with 14. They have had a homer in 15 of the last 18 games. Against Memphis and Samford, the Diamond Dawgs hit three bombs. MSU hit a season high five home runs in the second game against then-No. 6 Florida over the weekend. In the contest, the Dawgs had Dakota Jordan and Connor Hujsak hit two bombs apiece.
Junior infielder/outfielder Hunter Hines has hit 46 home runs. The 46 home runs are the fourth most by an active player in the SEC. Tommy White (60), Jac Caglianone (53), and Braden Montgomery (52) are the only active players ahead of Hines. The 46 home runs are the sixth most by an active player in Division 1 baseball. The 46 home runs are tied for seventh most in a career at Mississippi State. He is five homers away from moving into the top five at MSU. Besides hitting for power, Hines has driven in 143 runs and is 41 RBIs away from joining the career RBI mark at MSU.
Once SEC play started in mid-March, Connor Hujsak's bat started to heat up. Over the first nine SEC games of the season, Hujsak is hitting a team best .405 in conference games. He has 15 hits with six going for extra bases, including a two-home run game against Florida on March 30. He has an on-base percentage of .463 over this span. Over the entire season, Hujsak is hitting .346, the second best on the team. He has 15 extra base hits, including nine doubles, four homers and two triples.
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.
On Mar. 22 Mississippi State's 5-1 victory over Texas A&M marked their 1,000^th career SEC victory. Only four schools have accomplished this feat. MSU joined Florida, LSU, and Alabama to reach 1,000 wins in SEC games.
Mississippi State is great at turning out major league talent, with 69 Diamond Dawgs reaching the highest level of the sport, but it is also great at keeping student-athletes on campus. Justin Foscue was called up to MLB on Tuesday by the Texas Rangers.

Scouting the Opponent – Georgia

Georgia enters the weekend series with a 23-6 record and a 4-5 SEC record. Georgia is tied for fourth in the SEC East.
Georgia is 2-5 in away games this season.
UGA has one of the top offenses in college baseball this season as they lead the nation in home runs with 84 on the season. They have the 12th best team batting average (.325) and scored 289 runs, fifth most in the nation.
Charlie Condon leads the Bulldog's offense with a .481 batting average. Condon leads the team in home runs (19), RBI (41), hits (52), runs (41) and doubles (11).
The Bulldogs have a 5.33 ERA and have tallied 275 strikeouts. MSU will face Charlie Goldstein (4-0, 4.08 ERA) on Friday. He has tossed 28 2/3 innings on the season with 31 strikeouts. Leighton Finley (2-1, 5.14 ERA) gets the start Saturday. Finley has thrown 28 innings and has 22 punchouts.

Series Notes

Mississippi State leads the all-time series 51-50.
The last time the Dawgs and Bulldogs faced off was in Athens and the Dawgs won 20-3.
The Diamond Dawgs hold a 26-20 record at Dudy Noble Field when playing Georgia.

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the baseball program. Fans can also follow the program on social media by searching 'HailStateBB' on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Diamond Dawgs Host Georgia In SEC Play

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Players Mentioned

Jurrangelo Cijntje

Hunter Hines

Connor Hujsak

Dakota Jordan

Khal Stephen

Mississippi State University Athletics

Diamond Dawgs Host Georgia In SEC Play

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Players Mentioned

Jurrangelo Cijntje

Hunter Hines

Connor Hujsak

Dakota Jordan

Khal Stephen

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