Diamond Dogs Open May Schedule With Series At Auburn
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State embarks on a season-longest eight-game road run and launches a 12-game May schedule this weekend when the Bulldogs (18-26, 6-15 SEC) meet the Auburn Tigers (24-22, 8-13
SEC) in a three-game series at Plainsman Park. Game times are set for 6 p.m. both Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, with the radio broadcast of all three games set for coverage on the statewide MSU Baseball Radio Network.
The Bulldogs continue their road run with midweek games against Middle Tennessee State May 6-7 in Winchester, Tenn., before venturing on to Baton Rouge, La., May 9-11 for a three-game weekend set at LSU.
After registering a season-first SEC series win last weekend against Tennessee, Mississippi State stands four games out of eighth place in the SEC’s overall standings with nine conference games remaining. The top eight teams advance to the SEC Baseball Tournament May 21-25 at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.
MSU will for the third consecutive week and the fourth time in eight weekends have its regular starting rotation available for duty. State will open on the mound Friday with junior right-hander Chad Crosswhite (2-3, 8.35), with sophomore righty Ricky Bowen (2-5, 7.38) set to pitch Saturday and senior lefty Justin Pigott (2-1, 4.13) Sunday. Auburn has designated freshman lefty Grant Dayton (6-1, 3.94) and sophomore righty Taylor Thompson (2-4, 6.65) as its first two starters.
Freshman catcher Cody Freeman, in his ninth game back in the Bulldog batting order as the designated hitter after missing nine games with a knee injury, leads the Diamond Dogs with a .340 batting average. Not far off the pace is junior outfielder and lead-off Grant Hogue (.333), who paces the SEC with 22 stolen bases and enters the weekend riding a team season-best 12-game hitting streak. The team’s top hitters, freshman outfielder Ryan Collins (.355) and sophomore third baseman Connor Powers (.348), remain sidelined with injuries.
Auburn, hitting at a league-best .304 clip in SEC competition, is paced at the plate by freshman Hunter Morris (.360, 11 HR, 40 RBI). The Tigers dropped a 6-3 decision to Troy Tuesday night at Plainsman Park for their 10th setback in their last 12 games.