State Hosts Memphis Tigers Tuesday At Dudy Noble Field
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State wraps up its non-conference baseball schedule for 2008 Tuesday night when the Bulldogs (20-32) play host to the University of Memphis Tigers (16-35) in a 6:30 p.m. contest at Dudy Noble Field.
It’s the second meeting between the two teams this season. The Tigers claimed a 9-8, 10-inning win Apr. 8 at AutoZone Park in Memphis, ending an eight-game series win streak for the Bulldogs. State holds a 46-21 overall series lead, including a 24-11 edge in games during Ron Polk’s and a nine-game series win streak at Dudy Noble Field.
Junior right-hander Chad Crosswhite (2-5, 10.35) will open on the mound and lead a split pitching assignment for the Diamond Dogs against Memphis.
Memphis is one of six MSU opponents in 2008 whose head coach once played for or coached under Ron Polk. State is a combined 5-9 in those games against Air Force (Mike Hutcheon), Baylor (Steve Smith), Georgia (David Perno), Kentucky (John Cohen), Memphis (Daron Schoenrock) and UAB (Brian Shoop).
The Bulldogs close out their 2008 baseball schedule with a three-game Thursday-Friday-Saturday series against SEC West rival Arkansas (31-20, 13-13 SEC). Saturday’s series and season-finale will be televised regionally by FOX Sports Net South.
Mississippi State will pay tribute to retiring head baseball coach Ron Polk prior to Saturday’s season finale. Polk, whose 1,370 career wins ranks seventh among college baseball’s all-time leaders in coaching wins, is one of three college coaches to have guided three different schools (MSU, Georgia and Georgia Southern) to College World Series appearances, six of those during his record-setting 29-year run as head coach at MSU. In 31 seasons in the Southeastern Conference his teams have won 1,215 games, the most by any coach in any sport in the SEC’s 75-year history.
The first 3,000 fans in attendance at Saturday’s game will receive a commemorative poster as part of the athletic department’s "Pack the Park for Polk" event. Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive will take part in the pre-game tribute.
NOTEBOOKING THE DIAMOND DOGS
- With his 24th stolen base of the year last weekend at LSU, junior outfielder Grant Hogue of Hattiesburg, Miss., tied former MSU standout Jon Shave (1990) for the No. 6 spot among MSU’s single season stolen base leaders. He enters the week with the second-most stolen bases in the SEC.
- Sophomore catcher Ryan Duffy (.295) of West Melbourne, Fla., enjoyed a career-week at the plate, hitting at a .421 clip (8x19) with three doubles and his fifth career home run.
- Junior first baseman Tyler Moore (.300) of Brandon, Miss., lashed a pair of home runs last week and now leads the club in home runs 913) and RBI (41)
- Junior relief ace Aaron Weatherford of Crystal Springs, Miss., picked up his sixth save of the season in MSU’s 4-3 midweek win at Middle Tennessee State. Though his season-long string of 25 innings pitched without allowing an earned run ended with a two-out, ninth inning home run, Weatherford sports an 0.33 ERA with 54 strikeouts and six hits allowed in 27.0 innings. He fanned three of the six batters he faced in Sunday’s series finale at LSU.
- Junior outfielder Nick Hardy of Flora, Miss., and sophomore infielder Jet Butler of Pensacola, Fla., belted their first home runs of the in last week, becoming the 11th and 12th Diamond Dogs to "go yard" in 2008