Diamond Dogs Open Road Series At Tennessee
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - On the heels of a pair of midweek wins in non-conference play, Mississippi State (18-15, 4-8 SEC) returns to Southeastern Conference action on the road this weekend, taking on the Tennessee Volunteers (13-20, 1-11 SEC) in a three-game series at UT’s Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Friday’s series-opener is set for 6 p.m. (CDT), and all three games of the series will be televised live regionally on SportSouth.
Pitchers Ricky Bowen and Lee Swindle combined for a five-hitter Tuesday night InHoover, Ala., as State registered its first shutout win of the campaign and completed a two-game series sweep with a 10-0 blanking of UAB. The Diamond Dogs backed that win with a dramatic 7-6 victory over instate rival Southern Miss Wednesday night at Dudy Noble Field. Junior DH Ryan Duffy delivered the game-winning blow for the Diamond Dogs, a one-out, first-pitch solo home run that broke a 6-6 deadlock and gave State its 15th win in 19 home games.
Junior lefty Tyler Whitney (2-2, 3.89) is set to make his seventh start of the season for State while the Vols will counter with junior right-hander Aaron Tullo (1-4, 5.59).
Junior infielders Russ Sneed (.371) and Jet Butler (.352) sport the top two batting averages heading into the weekend series, while junior first baseman Connor Powers (.316), who belted his team-leading ninth home run of the year Wednesday night, leads the Diamond Dogs with 36 RBI. Senior outfielder Grant Hogue (.337), second in the SEC with 20 stolen bases and tops with 12 HBPs, is hitting at a league-best .468 clip in conference play. Sophomore infielder Ryan Powers (.310) enters the series riding a team season-best 10-game hitting streak.
Volunteer sophomore outfielder/DH Josh Liles (.309) ranks among the SEC leaders with 43 hits while sophomore first baseman Cody Hawn (.333) stands fourth in the conference with 12 home runs and a .748 slugging percentage.
The Bulldogs have built up a 43-22 all-time series lead over the Volunteers and have won six of the last seven in the series. State holds a 13-10 edge in series games played in Knoxville.
The MSU-UT series continues Saturday and Sunday, with both games set for 12 p.m. (CDT) starts.