Diamond Dogs Host LSU Tigers In Key SEC Series At Dudy Noble Field
The series opens Thursday with a 6 p.m. game set to be televised regionally by Comcast Sports Southeast. MSU and LSU meet again Friday at 6:30 p.m. and close out their regular season slates with a 2 p.m. game Saturday. Former MSU and Major League pitcher Jay Powell will team with Richard Cross in the broadcast booth for Thursday's series-opener on CSS.
The radio broadcast of all three games will be carried on the 18-station MSU Baseball Radio Network and available online (www.MStateAthletics.com/m2mlive) to Maroon to the Max subscribers. Live video coverage of the Friday and Saturday games will also be available to M2M subscribers.
MSU-LSU baseball tickets will go on sale at the Dudy Noble Field ticket office two hours prior to each game. General admission tickets are $10 and reserved seat tickets, if available, are $15.
Heading into their 10th and final SEC weekend series of the campaign, Mississippi State is tied with three other teams --- Alabama, Arkansas and Auburn, for the top spot in the SEC West. The divisional champion will be seconded second in the eight-team double-elimination tournament set for a May 25-29 run at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala. The Bulldogs, tabbed by league coaches for a last place finish in the SEC West, have not played in the SEC Baseball Tournament since State's run to the 2007 NCAA College World Series.
Sophomore lefty Luis Pollorena (6-3, 3.02) will open on the hill for the Bulldogs. It will be the third start of the season and the first at Dudy Noble Field for Pollorena. LSU has designated freshman right-hander Kevin Gausman (4-6, 3.73) for starting mound duty Thursday.
Mississippi State has won nine of its last 10 games, including an 8-3 Tuesday night victory at Memphis. The Bulldogs registered their second consecutive SEC road series win last weekend at Ole Miss.
The series features the top two contenders for the 2011 SEC batting crown. MSU senior third baseman Jarrod Parks, one of three finalists for the 2011 Cellular South Ferriss Trophy as the Mississippi collegiate player of the year, leads the league with a .398 batting average. LSU junior centerfielder Mike Mahtook is next with a .373 batting average. Mahtook also leads the SEC with 28 stolen bases, three ahead of MSU second baseman Nick Vickerson.
Mississippi State owns a 200-164-1 all-time series lead over LSU and a 109-64-1 edge in games played in Starkville. The Tigers claimed 2-1 series wins last year in Baton Rouge and in the 2009 series at Dudy Noble Field.
MSU will salute its eight senior players and two senior managers in ceremonies prior to Friday's 6:30 p.m. game.