Dogs Open SEC Road Competition At No. 11 South Carolina
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State faces a ranked opponent for the third consecutive weekend when the Bulldogs (9-9, 1-2 SEC) meet No. 11 South Carolina (12-5, 1-2 SEC) in a three-game series at Sarge Frye Field in Columbia, S.C.
Friday’s series opener is set for a 6 p.m. CDT start, with State senior lefty Jesse Carver (1-0, 7.50 ERA), in his first career SEC start, slated to work opposite USC junior right-hander Mike Cisco (3-0, 2.84).
Due to scheduling conflicts with the Basketball Bulldogs’ Friday night competition in the NCAA Tournament, the radio broadcast of the series-opening MSU-USC game will be carried in Jackson, Miss., on WJDX (AM 620) and available free of charge through Maroon to the Max, the MSU Athletic Department's premium website. Both the Saturday and Sunday games will be broadcast on the statewide MSU Baseball Radio Network and Maroon to the Max will carry those contests to its normal subscribers.
South Carolina has won two of three games played in the last four series and owns a 24-22 alt-time lead in the series. The teams first met at Rosenblatt Stadium in the 1981 College World Series, with the Gamecocks nipping the Bulldogs 6-5.
The Bulldogs evened their season record Tuesday night in Birmingham, Ala., with a 24-10 win at UAB. State tied a school record with six home runs in the game, an MSU record-tying three by freshman Jason Nappi. Nappi tied an NCAA mark and set a Southeastern Conference record with two roundtrippers during an 11-run burst when 16 Bulldog batters came to the plate. Nappi belted two, three and four-run home runs and drew a pair of bases-loaded walks to set the SEC RBI record with 11. Former MSU greats Bruce Castoria and Rafael Palmeiro were among six SEC played tied for the league lead with 10-RBI games.
Freshman catcher Cody Freeman (.425) and freshman DH/outfielder Jason Nappi (.418) pace the Bulldogs at the plate. Nappi leads State with 28 hits, 22 runs scored, 13 extra-base hits, seven home runs and 27 RBI. Freeman went 5-for-10 in last weekend’s series against Mississippi to take the early team lead with a .500 batting average in conference play.