Healthier Bulldogs Test No. 10 Kentucky in Lexington

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Mississippi State hits the road for its fourth SEC baseball series of the campaign this weekend when the Bulldogs (13-15, 2-7 SEC) visit Lexington, Ky., for a three-game series against 10th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats (23-4, 5-4 SEC). The series is scheduled to begin Friday at 5:30 p.m. CDT at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

The Bulldogs, besieged by injuries during the first half of the season, return three of those injured players for this weekend’s series.

Junior right-hander Chad Crosswhite (2-2, 11.78), out of MSU’s weekend starting rotation since a Mar. 9 start against Baylor, returns to his familiar weekend lead-off role in Friday’s series-opener against the Wildcats. The Brandon, Miss., product has made five relief appearances over the last two weeks, picking up a pair of wins and tossing 4-2/3 of shutout, no-hit relief in his last four outings.

Crosswhite will be matched with UK junior righty Chris Rusin (4-1, 2.52).

Also on the mend and back on the MSU travel squad this weekend are a pair of preseason All-American picks, junior relief ace Aaron Weatherford (0-0, 0.00, 2 saves) and sophomore second baseman Brandon Turner. Weatherford, idled for a month by shoulder soreness, made his return to the mound Wednesday night, striking out the three batters he faced in MSU’s 10-2 win over Austin Peay.

Turner, second in the SEC a year ago with a .399 batting average, is available for limited duty this weekend after being sidelined by a nagging hamstring injury. The Cleveland, Tenn., product has missed the last nine games, 21 of MSU’s last 22 games and has played in just one of MSU’s nine SEC games.

The Bulldogs swept their midweek series at home against 2007 NCAA Tournament entrant Austin Peay and now challenge a Kentucky team that has yet to lose on its home turf in 2008. Kentucky, coached by former Mississippi State All-SEC outfielder John Cohen, opened the 2008 campaign with 19 consecutive wins. UK has won all 18 games played at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The Wildcats claimed their 18th straight non-conference win Wednesday night with a 7-3 home field decision over Western Kentucky. That win was Cohen’s 300th career coaching win in eight seasons as a collegiate head coach.

State owns a 51-28 all-time series lead against Kentucky and has captured six of the last eight MSU-UK baseball series.

The weekend series continues Saturday at 5:30 p.m. CDT and concludes Sunday with a 12 p.m. CDT contest.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Healthier Bulldogs Test No. 10 Kentucky in Lexington