Diamond Dogs Begin Two-Game Set With MTSU Tuesday
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State closes out the home portion of its April schedule this week when the Bulldogs (20-20, 6-12 SEC) host Middle Tennessee State (27-10, 16-5 SBC) in a two-game midweek set at Dudy Noble Field.
First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. both Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Bulldogs and the Blue Raiders split a pair of games last year in Winchester, Tenn., bowing 20-5 before rebounding for a 4-3 win. State leads the all-time series 3-1, which includes Bulldog wins in NCAA tournament play in Starkville in 1988 (12-4) and 2003 (10-4).
MTSU will open with junior right-hander Chad Edwards (5-1, 5.74). Mississippi State has not named a starter for Tuesday’s series opener.
Bulldog junior first baseman Connor Powers (.306), whose 10th-inning home run lifted State to a 4-3 Saturday win over Kentucky, enters the MTSU series riding a 12-game hitting streak. The Naperville, Ill., product ranks sixth in the SEC in home runs (13) and RBI (44), and has gone yard in eight of his last 12 games and seven of his last nine SEC games.
State opens the week ranked first in the SEC with 57 hit batsmen, 39 sacrifice hits and 42 double plays. Additionally, MSU stands fourth with 54 stolen bases and fifth with a .400 on-base percentage.
With his second three-pilfer game in Sunday’s series-finale against Kentucky, senior outfielder Grant Hogue (.325) has totaled 24 stolen bases, tying former Bulldog standout Jon Shave’s 1990 single season mark as the seventh-best at State. Hogue’s 49 career stolen bases in two seasons in the sixth-best MSU career total.
The Blue Raiders currently sport the best winning percentage among State’s 2009 opponents and following a three-game home weekend series sweep of UL-Monroe lead the Sun Belt Conference with a 16-5 mark.
MTSU is paced by sophomore outfielder/pitcher Bryce Brentz, the son of former Mississippi State wingback Charlie Brentz (1978-80). Brentz leads the Blue Raiders at the plate with 61 hits, 19 home runs and 46 RBI.
He’s also the leadoff pitcher on MTSU’s weekend pitching rotation, posting a 4-2 mark and a .390 ERA while registering a staff-best 62.1 innings pitched and 46 strikeouts. A 2008 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, Brentz went 6-for-10 and drove in five runs in last year’s series in Tennessee.
The Bulldogs return to SEC baseball competition this weekend in Nashville, Tenn., opening a three-game series Friday at 6 p.m. (CDT) with the Vanderbilt Commodores at Charles Hawkins Field.