Diamond Dogs Host Defending SEC Champ Vanderbilt
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State hits the midpoint of the 10-weekend 2008 SEC baseball schedule this weekend when the Bulldogs (14-18, 3-9 SEC) play host to No. 13 Vanderbilt (21-10, 5-6 SEC) at Dudy Noble Field. The three-game series gets under way at 6:30 p.m. Friday (CDT) and continues with games Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
The radio broadcast of all three games will be carried on the statewide MSU Baseball Radio Network and live audio will be carried by MSU's premium streaming service Maroon to the Max for all three affairs. M2M will broadcast the Friday and Sunday games via live video as well.
The weekend series marks MSU’s first regular season meeting with Vanderbilt since the 2005 season. The teams met in an elimination game in last year’s SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., with the Commodores, regular season and divisional champions in the SEC, nipping State 3-2.
Both teams enter the weekend at the bottom of their respective divisions, Vandy 3-1/2 games behind SEC East leading Georgia and State trailing SEC West leader Mississippi by four games.
Junior right-hander Chad Crosswhite (2-2, 10.65) will open on the hill for the Bulldogs Friday opposite Vandy ace lefty Mike Minor (3-2, 3.18).
But the remainder of the MSU weekend pitching rotation will, for the fifth consecutive weekend, feature some changes. Sophomore righty Ricky Bowen (2-3, 6.64), after four consecutive SEC Sunday starts, moves to the Saturday slot. Another Bulldog right-hander, senior John Lalor (1-2, 3.63), is set to make his first start of the campaign and his first SEC start since 2006. Lalor, with a win and a save in 10 relief appearances, becomes the eighth different Bulldog hurler to see game-opening SEC competition.
Freshman outfielder Ryan Collins leads the Bulldogs with a .363 batting average. But the hottest State hitter heading into the Vanderbilt series is sophomore third baseman Connor Powers (.355), who in six games in the month of April is hitting .593 with three doubles, four home runs and 12 RBI. The Naperville, Ill., product tied a single-game MSU mark with three home runs in Sunday’s series finale at Kentucky. Powers added his team-leading 10th home run Tuesday night on the road against Memphis.
Vanderbilt, like Mississippi State, has endured injury difficulties this season. Senior second baseman Alex Feinberg (.400), the Commodores’ leading hitter, is sidelined for the weekend series in Starkville after sustaining a broken jaw when struck by a pitch in last weekend’s series at Mississippi. Vanderbilt did, however, return preseason All-American third baseman Pedro Alvarez, who missed 23 games with a broken hand. Alvarez celebrated his return with two home runs and two doubles in the past week.
The Bulldogs enter the weekend without the services of the SEC’s top returning hitter from 2007, second baseman Brandon Turner (hamstring), senior left-hander Justin Pigott (shoulder) and starting freshman catcher Cody Freeman (knee). Junior relief ace Aaron Weatherford (3 saves, 0.00 ERA) has registered a save and worked six scoreless innings of relief since returning to action April 2 against Austin Peay.