Crosswhite Draws Start Against Stetson Friday In MSU's NCAA Tourney Opener At FSU
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Mississippi State begins its 30th NCAA postseason tournament Friday afternoon in Tallahassee, Fla., where the 27th-ranked Bulldogs (33-20) take on the Stetson University Hatters (41-19) in a 12 p.m. (CDT) game at Dick Howser Stadium. No. 6 national seed and tournament host Florida State (47-11) meets Mid-East Athletic Conference champion Bethune-Cookman (33-25) at 6 p.m. (CDT) in the other first round game.
The opening round winners meet at 6 p.m. (CDT) Saturday while the loser's square off in a 12 p.m. (CDT) elimination game.
MSU has tabbed sophomore right-hander Chad Crosswhite for game-opening mound duties opposite Stetson senior lefty Chris Ingoglia (9-5, 2.98).
Friday's game will be the first baseball meeting between the Bulldogs and the Hatters.
The Bulldogs are paced at the plate by freshman shortstop/second baseman Brandon Turner, who leads the Southeastern Conference with a.407 batting average despite being slowed the final month of the season with a pulled hamstring. The rookie from Cleveland, Tenn., is bidding to become the 10th MSU player and the first Mississippi State freshman to hit .400 in a season.
Junior catcher Edward Easley, an All-SEC and second-team All-America team selection, hits at a .373 clip and leads State at the plate with 79 hits, 12 home runs and 60 RBI.
Senior second baseman Jeffrey Rea, a starter in an 11 MSU regional tournament games over the past three seasons, begins postseason competition in 2007 with 326 career hits, third-most in MSU history and sixth-most among the Southeastern Conference's all-time career hits leaders. Rea needs one hit to tie Travis Chapman (1997-2000) for second place at MSU and two to match the school record of 328 career hits held by Richard Lee (1995-98).
Crosswhite notched his fourth quality start of the season with five hits and three runs allowed over six innings in a 3-2 loss to top-ranked and eventual SEC Tournament champ Vanderbilt in last week's SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. It will be the ninth start of the year and the 11th career start for Crosswhite.
The radio broadcast of Mississippi State's NCAA Tallahassee Regional games will be carried on the statewide MSU Baseball Radio network and available on the MSU Athletic Department web site (www.MStateAthletics.com) for no charge.