Diamond Dogs Open Weekend Series Friday With SLU Lions
STARKVILLE, Miss. - A pair of unbeaten college baseball teams square off Friday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field when Mississippi State (4-0) opens a three-game weekend series against Southeastern Louisiana (4-0).
The series-opener is set for a 4 p.m. first pitch. The teams meet again Saturday at 1 p.m. and close out the set with a 1:30 p.m. game Sunday.
The radio broadcast of the first two games will be carried on French Camp's WFCA-FM (107.9) while Sunday's series finale will be heard on internet only. Live free online video streaming is available (www.MStateAthletics.com/m2mlive) for all three of the MSU-Southeastern Louisiana games.
Sophomore Nick Routt (0-0, 9.00) is scheduled to open on the mound for State and work opposite of SLU junior righty Tyler Watkins (0-0, 1.35).
The Bulldogs received some late-game heroics from seniors Luke Adkins and Connor Powers Tuesday night in registering a 6-5 win over the UAB Blazers. Adkins drilled a game-tying solo home run in the bottom of the ninth and moments later Powers ended the game with his third round-tripper of the campaign. It marked the second time in four games this season that the Bulldogs had overcome a deficit with a two-run ninth inning.
Ryan Collins and Adkins delivered back-to-back two-out RBI singles to lift the Bulldogs to a 9-8 opening day win over Rhode Island.
The Lions, runners-up in the Southland Conference in 2009, swept a three-game home series against Eastern Illinois last weekend and notched a 13-1 midweek win over future MSU opponent Mississippi Valley State.
Junior college transfers Nick Vickerson and Trey Johnson share the early team lead with .500 batting averages, while Powers and Adkins have seven hits each and Powers a team-best three home runs and eight RBI.
Some 13 of MSU's 18 newcomers have taken the field for the Bulldogs in 2010, with Ogden, a shortstop, and Vickerson, a second baseman, drawing starts in all four games.
State holds a 9-0 all-time lead in its baseball rivalry with Southeastern Louisiana, claiming a 13-3 win at Dudy Noble Field in 2003, the last time the teams met.
State hits the midway point of its season-opening 13-game home stand this weekend. The Bulldogs host South Alabama Tuesday at 4 p.m. and then welcome Michigan State and Southeast Missouri State to Dudy Noble Field for the BankFirst Baseball Classic Mar. 5-7.
The Dudy Noble Field ticket office and gates open at 2 p.m. Friday.
General admission tickets cost $5 per person.