Diamond Dogs Open 2008 Campaign This Weekend Against North Florida
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State hits the road to open its 2008 baseball season this weekend, venturing to Jacksonville, Fla., for a three-game weekend series against the University of North Florida Ospreys. Friday’s 4 p.m. (CT) game, the first baseball meeting between MSU and UNF, will be played at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, the home of the Class AA Southern League Jacksonville Suns. The Saturday and Sunday contests, both with 12 p.m. (CT) starts, will be played at Harmon Field on the North Florida campus.
The Bulldogs, ranked as high as 19th (Rivals.com) in the preseason national polls, return 20 lettermen, including four position player starters, and nine of the 12 pitchers that took the mound for MSU’s 2007 NCAA College World Series team. Among the returning players are sophomore second baseman Brandon Turner, a pre-season All-American whose .399 freshman year batting average was the second-highest in the SEC, and junior relief ace Aaron Weatherford, a candidate for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award.
The radio broadcast of all three games will be carried on WFCA-FM in French Camp, Miss., the flagship station of MSU athletics. Sunday’s game will also be available on the internet an on-demand basis ($5.99) by A-Sun TV, the broadband network of the Atlantic Sun Conference (www.asun.tv).
Senior lefthander Justin Pigott (2007: 7-7, 4.41), the 2007 MSU Pitching MVP and the MVP of the 2007 NCAA Tallahassee Regional, will open on the hill for State Friday. The Picayune, Miss., product paced the MSU pitching staff with 76 strikeouts and 113-2/3 innings pitched. Junior Chad Crosswhite (2007: 8-5, 4.69), MSU’s other returning weekend rotation starter, will draw the start in Saturday’s game. Sophomore righty Ricky Bowen (5-2, 5 saves, 3.00), who posted the staff’s best earned run average last year in 27 relief appearances, will make his debut as a starter in Sunday’s series finale.
State is making its first season-opener away from Dudy Noble Field since launching its 2000 season in the Coca Cola Classic in Mobile, Ala.
The series matches two of college baseball’s most successful coaching veterans who have combined for 2,480 career coaching victories. Mississippi State skipper Ron Polk launches his 29th season as MSU head coach this weekend and his 35th as a collegiate head coach overall. His 1,350 career coaching wins stands fifth among current and seventh among all-time NCAA Division I coaches. UNF is coached by Dusty Rhodes, set to begin his 21st season as head coach at North Florida. Rhodes has logged 1,130 career wins in 28 seasons as a head baseball coach.
Mississippi State opens its 31-game home schedule and a season-longest 14-game home stand Tuesday, February 26 when the Bulldogs host the UAB Blazers in a 4 p.m. game at Dudy Noble Field.