'Dogs Host Rebels In Crucial Conference Series
Matchup Offering More Than Just Bragging Rights STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State softball team (24-19, 6-8 SEC), fresh off a five-game road trip, will return home this week as the Bulldogs suit up to host cross-state nemesis Mississippi (23-13, 5-7) in a crucial three-game series for both squads. The arch-rivals will open their set with a 5 p.m. Wednesday doubleheader under the lights of the Mississippi State Softball Field and will close out the set on Thursday with a single contest slated with a 5 p.m. first pitch. All three games of the series can be followed via a live stats link on http://www.MStateAthletics.com. For the first time, both teams will bring nearly identical conference records into the annual series with both looking to use the series to gain leverage in the race for the conference postseason gala. The Bulldogs will head into the mid-week series currently ranked fifth overall among the 11 softball-playing institutions (Vanderbilt does not sponsor softball), while the Rebels are the league's sixth-best team. Both squads have the capabilities of seriously damaging the other's SEC Tournament aspirations. "Parity has never been as strong in the SEC," said Mississippi State head coach Kathy Arendsen. "While LSU and Alabama have established themselves as the leaders, the rest of the tournament-seeding race is up for grabs." The series has been dominated by State, but not extravagantly. Of the 19 meetings, 10 have been decided by two runs or less with two contests reaching extra innings. Of the three longest games in the Mississippi State record books, a pair have come against the Rebels. The Maroon and White have outscored the Cardinal Red and Navy Blue by an average of just 4 to 3 in the 19 meetings between the two schools. A total of 12 players on the Mississippi State roster have seen playing time against the Rebels in their respective careers, with eight seeing Mississippi for the first time last season. Those 12 players will carry a combined .299 (32-for-107) batting clip into the series, with three different pitchers toting a cumulative 1-2 record with a 1.45 ERA and one save. "It has never mattered if the teams were evenly matched or not, every series between State and Mississippi is a barn burner," Arendsen said. "Mississippi is off to it's best start ever and we will be ready for a great battle starting on Wednesday. We hope lots of Bulldog fans will come and cheer us on." Freshman Melissa Massey (4-10, 2.43 ERA) will likely get the nod in the series opener against the Rebels' Lindsey Whatley (7-4, 1.82), with Wednesday's nightcap likely featuring UM's Lindsay Price (5-5, 2.55) against MSU's Kasey Whitehead (14-8, 2.43). Thursday's series finale will probably see Whitehead facing Mississippi's Leslie Day (9-4, 1.30).