#23 MSU Hosts Mercer To Close Season-Opening Homestand
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State (12-2), off to its best start since 2006 and sporting a No. 23 national ranking, closes out a season-opening 17-game homestand this weekend with a three-game series against the Mercer University Bears (11-3). The baseball series, the first between the two teams in Starkville since 1914, begins Friday at 6:30 p.m.
State registered its seventh comeback victory of the season Wednesday night, scoring seven times in the seventh and eighth innings to erase a 6-3 deficit and extend its winning streak to six games.
Mercer, sporting an impressive .350 team batting average, closes out an eight-game road run with this weekend's series in Starkville. The Bears claimed their 11th win of the campaign and third of the current road trip with an 8-3 decision instate rival Savannah State 8-3 Tuesday night. The Bears will open with senior lefty Brandon Love (2-0, 3.44) while Mississippi State has not designated a starting pitcher for Friday's series-opener.
The Bulldogs will face the Bears minus two of their top players. Sophomore outfielder C.T. Bradford (.309/13 RBI) is expected to miss one to two weeks after sustaining a shoulder injury on his non-throwing arm. Sophomore third baseman Daryl Norris (.375/22 H/ 12 RBI) will be sidelined for four to six weeks after his knee cap popped out of its socket during a Wednesday night plate appearance. Neither of the two injuries is expected to require corrective surgery.
A third member of the MSU baseball team, senior outfielder Brent Brownlee (.250), was scheduled to undergo corrective surgery for a knee cap ailment. Brownlee, one of two seniors on the 2012 MSU team, is expected to miss at least six weeks.
Sophomore middle infielder Adam Frazier (.379) has climbed to the top of MSU's offensive charts. One of four Bulldogs to have started all 14 games, Frazier leads the club with 22 hits and eight doubles. Junior designated hitter Trey Porter (.343), who returned to the MSU lineup Wednesday night after missing four games with a foot injury, leads State with three home runs.
The radio broadcast of Friday's MSU-Mercer game will be heard locally on WKBB-FM (100.9). Live multi-camera video streaming of all three games will be available online to HailStateTV subscribers (www.HailState.com/hstvlive).
General admission tickets ($5) will be available for purchase at the stadium ticket office beginning two hours prior to scheduled first pitch.