Diamond Dogs Tangle With No. 7 Rebels In Oxford
STARKVILLE, Miss. --- Mississippi State (21-26, 6-17 SEC) travels to Oxford, Miss., this weekend to close out the road portion of its 2009 SEC schedule with a three-game conference series against the Ole Miss Rebels (36-13, 16-8 SEC).
Friday’s series-opener is set for 6:30 p.m. at Swayze Field, O-U Stadium, with State junior lefty Tyler Whitney (2-4, 5.09) matched on the mound with UM sophomore southpaw Drew Pomeranz (5-2, 3.27).
The Bulldogs are facing their fifth ranked and second top-10 ranked opponent of the season. UM, seventh in two of this week’s national polls, are tied with Florida and SEC West rival LSU for the top spot in the overall SEC standings. State closes out its 2009 SEC schedule next Thursday-Saturday at Dudy Noble Field against LSU.
Junior third baseman Russ Sneed (.350) paces the Bulldogs at the plate with 56 hits and ranks second behind junior first baseball Connor Powers in both RBI (41) and home runs (9). Powers (.299) launched his 15th and 16th roundtrippers last weekend, climbing to a tie for 10th place with Richie Grayum (1987-89) among MSU’s career home run leaders with 35.
Sophomore Ryan Collins (.274) went 4-for-9 with a double, a triple and his third home run of the year, in the rain-abbreviated Alabama series, extending his team-leading hitting streak to eight games.
The MSU-UM series features the SEC’s top base-stealers. Bulldog senior outfielder Grant Hogue (.320) has pilfered 28 bases in 32 attempts while UM junior outfielder Jordan Henry (.343) has 28 steals in 34 tries. LSU’s Jared Mitchell also enters the weekend with 28 stolen bases.
The teams met earlier this season, with Ole Miss claiming an 8-1 win before 7,458 fans at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss. The Bulldogs, eager to snap a six-game SEC losing skid and a string of five consecutive UM series wins, hold a 233-189-5 all-time lead in the series that dates back to 1893.
Following this weekend’s series in Oxford, State travels to AutoZone Park in Memphis, Tenn., for a Tuesday afternoon (3 p.m.) game against
the Memphis Tigers.
Friday’s series-opener is set for 6:30 p.m. at Swayze Field, O-U Stadium, with State junior lefty Tyler Whitney (2-4, 5.09) matched on the mound with UM sophomore southpaw Drew Pomeranz (5-2, 3.27).
The Bulldogs are facing their fifth ranked and second top-10 ranked opponent of the season. UM, seventh in two of this week’s national polls, are tied with Florida and SEC West rival LSU for the top spot in the overall SEC standings. State closes out its 2009 SEC schedule next Thursday-Saturday at Dudy Noble Field against LSU.
Junior third baseman Russ Sneed (.350) paces the Bulldogs at the plate with 56 hits and ranks second behind junior first baseball Connor Powers in both RBI (41) and home runs (9). Powers (.299) launched his 15th and 16th roundtrippers last weekend, climbing to a tie for 10th place with Richie Grayum (1987-89) among MSU’s career home run leaders with 35.
Sophomore Ryan Collins (.274) went 4-for-9 with a double, a triple and his third home run of the year, in the rain-abbreviated Alabama series, extending his team-leading hitting streak to eight games.
The MSU-UM series features the SEC’s top base-stealers. Bulldog senior outfielder Grant Hogue (.320) has pilfered 28 bases in 32 attempts while UM junior outfielder Jordan Henry (.343) has 28 steals in 34 tries. LSU’s Jared Mitchell also enters the weekend with 28 stolen bases.
The teams met earlier this season, with Ole Miss claiming an 8-1 win before 7,458 fans at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss. The Bulldogs, eager to snap a six-game SEC losing skid and a string of five consecutive UM series wins, hold a 233-189-5 all-time lead in the series that dates back to 1893.
Following this weekend’s series in Oxford, State travels to AutoZone Park in Memphis, Tenn., for a Tuesday afternoon (3 p.m.) game against
the Memphis Tigers.