Diamond Dogs Begin Final Road Run Tuesday At USM
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State sets sail on its final road trip of the 2010 baseball campaign Tuesday, opening a four-game, five-day road run with stops in Hattiesburg and Baton Rouge to face teams that played in the 2009 NCAA College World Series.
The Bulldogs (21-31/5-22 SEC) visit Pete Taylor Park Tuesday night for a 6:30 p.m. rematch with the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (30-19/12-9 C-USA). USM topped State 14-3 in a May 5 meeting at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss. State took a 3-2 lead into the sixth inning, but Southern scored 12 runs over the final four frames to register the win. Mississippi State leads the all-time series 73-36 and holds a 27-22 advantage in games played in the Hub City.
MSU has not designated a starter for the game and is expected to utilize a split pitching crew against USM in the Bulldogs' final non-conference game of the season.
State then ventures on to Baton Rouge, La., for a Thursday-through-Saturday SEC series against defending NCAA champion LSU (34-18/12-15 SEC). Game times at the new Alex Box Stadium are set for 7 p.m. both Thursday and Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday. Cox Sports will televise the first two games while Comcast Sports Southeast will show Saturday's series finale.
All four games this week can be heard on the 14-station MSU Baseball Radio Network, with live audio coverage available online to subscribers of MSU's "Maroon to the Max" (www.MStateAthletics.com/m2mlive).