Forrest Moore Set To Open On The Mound Friday In State's Series Opener At Vanderbilt
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Mississippi State will shuffle its pitching deck this weekend when the Bulldogs (21-21, 6-12 SEC) open a three-game Southeastern Conference series Friday against the Vanderbilt Commodores (24-17, 7-10 SEC).
Sophomore lefty Forrest Moore (2-0, 4.38) has been tabbed to make his first weekend-opening SEC start of the campaign and his fourth league start of the year in Friday’s 6 p.m. series-opening at Charles Hawkins Field. Vanderbilt will counter with junior lefty Mike Minor (3-3, 3.15). Minor and State’s scheduled Saturday starter, freshman Nick Routt, begin the weekend tied for fifth among SEC pitchers with 65 strikeouts. Junior lefty Tyler Whitney (2-3, 4.29), after a brief season-first relief appearance against Tuesday night against MTSU, will draw game-opening duty in Sunday’s series finale at Vanderbilt.
Friday’s stint will be Moore’s first since drawing a Sunday start two weeks ago at Tennessee. He notched two wins and a save in his first four appearances of the season. The southpaw from Baton Rouge, La., worked two innings of scoreless relief in last year’s series finale against Vanderbilt at Dudy Noble Field.
The Bulldogs have compiled a 61-31 lead in their baseball rivalry with Vanderbilt and are meeting the Commodores in Nashville for the first time since 2004. Vandy claimed all three games in that series (7-2, 5-1, 5-4) as well as last year’s three-game set in Starkville (15-8, 16-0, 4-3).
MSU evened its record at 21-21 and earned a split of a midweek two-game set with visiting Middle Tennessee State Wednesday night with a 9-8 win at Dudy Noble Field. Sophomore outfielder Ryan Collins notched the first five-hit game by a Bulldogs since 2007 (Jeffrey Rea vs. Florida). His fifth hit of the night proved to be the game-winner, a two-run blast that broke a 7-7 deadlock and made a winner of freshman Caleb Reed.
Bulldog senior Chad Crosswhite, making his third start of the year and his 77th career appearance, turned in a season-longest seven-inning mound performance. Freshman second baseman Frank Rawdow registered his first three-hit game as a Bulldog and junior third baseman smacked his eighth home run, a three-run, third-inning shot that gave State an early 5-0 lead.
Bulldog senior outfielder Grant Hogue enters the Vanderbilt series leading the Southeastern Conference with 27 stolen bases and 15 HBPs. Hogue registered back-to-back three-pilfer games to tie Mike Kelley (1979) for the third-most stolen bases in a season at State. His 52 stolen-base total ranks fifth among State’s career leaders.
Mississippi State continues to lead the Southeastern Conference in hit batsmen (59), sacrifice bunts (39) and double plays (45). MSU turned a pair of twin-killings in Wednesday’s win over Middle Tennessee, the last a clutch game-ending unassisted defensive gem by sophomore shortstop Ryan Powers.
Junior third baseman Russ Sneed belted two home runs and drove in five runs in the two midweek games, raising his team-leading batting average to .357. Ryan Collins’ career-best 5-for-5 plate performance capped a 7-for-9 week for the sophomore outfielder. With four stolen bases in his last three games, Collins has raised his season total to 10. Junior first baseman Connor Powers (.300) leads the club with a career-best 13 home runs and 46 RBI.
The Bulldogs meet the Commodores in a 1 p.m. (CDT) game Saturday before concluding the series and their April schedule with a 1 p.m. game Sunday.