Diamond Dogs Test Third Straight Ranked SEC Foe In Weekend Series At No. 9 Arkansas
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Mississippi State faces its third ranked conference opponent in as many weekends of league play when the Bulldogs (14-10, 2-4 SEC) open a three-game SEC road series Friday against league-leading and ninth-ranked Arkansas (17-4, 6-0 SEC).
The weekend set opens Friday with a 6:35 p.m. (CDT) contest at Baum Stadium/Cole Field. The teams then square off Saturday at 2:05 p.m. and wrap up the third weekend of league play with a 1:05 p.m. contest Sunday.
The Bulldogs topped the Memphis Tigers 6-3 Wednesday night at Dudy Noble Field to improve their home record to 13-2 on the season. State took two of three games on SEC opening weekend from then-No. 17 South Carolina and last weekend in Athens, Ga., dropped three closely contested games against No. 3 Georgia.
Junior lefty Tyler Whitney (2-1, 2.82) will open on the mound for the Bulldogs as State takes aim on its second SEC series win of the season and its fifth straight in Fayetteville. MSU has claimed wins in nine of the last 12 Bulldog-Razorback baseball matchups at Arkansas. State closed out its 2008 season taking two of three games from Arkansas at Dudy Noble Field.
Arkansas also notched a Wednesday night win at home, blanking Missouri State 10-0. The Razorbacks have tabbed junior lefty Dallas Keuchel (3-0, 3.00) for a start in Friday’s series-opener.
Junior second baseman Jet Butler singled and drove in two runs Wednesday night and paces the Bulldogs at the plate. He sports a team-best .382 batting average with team-highs for both hits (29) and RBI (23). Junior first baseman Connor Powers (.304) cracked his team-leading fourth home run and notched his third straight multi-hit game in State’s win over Memphis.
Senior center fielder Grant Hogue climbed into MSU’s career top 10 for stolen bases with his 39th pilfer in two seasons. Hogue, fourth in the SEC with 14 stolen bases and first in the league with 11 free passes as a hit batsman, tied Brad Freeman (1995-98) for 10th on State’s all-time career list for stolen bases. Mike Kelley (1976-79) set the MSU standard with 79.
Arkansas, which swept earlier SEC series at home against Florida and last weekend at Auburn, is 14-3 this season at Baum Stadium. Razorback lead-off hitter center fielder Chase Leavitt opens the weekend with a .429 batting average and a .556 on-base percentage, both second-highest marks in the SEC.