Diamond Dogs Test UAB Tuesday On Bryan Dollar Dog Night
STARKVILLE, Miss. --- Mississippi State's 13-game season-opening home stand continues Tuesday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field when the Bulldogs play host to the UAB Blazers. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. The game marks the first of four Bryan Foods-sponsored dollar hot dog promotions scheduled for each Tuesday home game this season.
The Bulldogs (3-0) registered their first three-game series sweep since 2007 last weekend, knocking off first-time opponent Rhode Island 9-8, 9-0 and 12-6. Tuesdays game is the seasonal debut for the Blazers, skippered by former MSU assistant Brian Shoop.
A pair of southpaws are scheduled for starting mound duty Tuesday afternoon. State will open with rookie lefty Luke Bole (Hartselle, Ala.) while UAB has designated junior Shay Crawford as its starter.
The Bulldogs hit at a .340 clip on opening weekend. Junior second baseman Nick Vickerson (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) hit at a team-best .571 clip and drove in five runs in three starts. Senior first baseman Connor Powers (Naperville, Ill.) hit .357 with two home runs and drove in a team-best seven runs. Junior outfielder Ryan Collins (Callaway, Fla.) shared with Powers team honors for hits with five, including his seventh career triple. With his next three-bagger Collins will join MSUs career top 10 list in triples.
MSU utilized 14 position players and 10 pitchers on the weekend, with 11 of MSUs 18 newcomers seeing playing time.
Only two Rhode Island base-runners advanced past first base during a stellar Saturday starting pitching performance by rookie righty Chris Stratton (Tupelo, Miss.). Stratton scattered four hits and struck out six while limiting URI hitters to .182 hitting over six innings. Sophomore lefty Caleb Reed (Cleveland, Miss.), displaying a newly-developed sidearm pitching style, registered career-highs with five innings pitched and seven strikeouts in a solid no-decision shutout relief appearance in Fridays season-opener.
State plated two runs in the ninth inning, the last on a clutch bases-loaded two-out single by Luke Adkins (Nettleton, Miss.) to claim a 9-8 win in the season-opener. Powers belted his 39th and 40th career home runs in Saturdays shutout win over URI while Ryan Duffy (Malabar, Fla.) and Jonathan Ogden (Cypress, Texas) delivered season-first round-trippers in a seven-run Bulldog burst in Sundays sweep-clinching 12-6 win. Duffys blast was a career-first grand slam.
The Bulldogs finish the week hosting Southeastern Louisiana in a three-game weekend series. Fridays series-opener is set for 4 p.m., while first pitch for Saturdays game has been advanced to 1 p.m. The series concludes with a 1:30 p.m. contest Sunday.