MSU Hosts SEC West Rival Arkansas To Close Eight-Game Homestand
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- After registering a pair of midweek non-conference wins, Mississippi State's Baseball Bulldogs (19-11-1, 6-5 SEC) put the finishing touches on a season-longest eight-game homestand this weekend, entertaining the Arkansas Razorbacks (18-11, 4-5 SEC) in a three-game series at Dudy Noble Field.
The series gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Friday, with sophomore lefty Paul Maholm (6-1, 3.14) set to face Arkansas junior right-hander Gary Hogan Jr. (3-2, 3.44).
Saturday's game is set for 2 p.m. and the Sunday finale begins at 1:30 p.m.
HEATING UP
Both clubs have enjoyed a measure of success in recent games.
Arkansas erased a 6-0 deficit for a 9-6 home win over No. 17 Oklahoma Tuesday night. It was the fourth straight win and six in seven games for Arkansas.
MSU has won four of its last five games after knocking off Samford (7-2) and Mississippi Valley State (11-1) in the midweek. State is positioned for its first three-game win streak since Mar. 9.
COMMON FOES
MSU and Arkansas have met two common opponents, SEC East teams Georgia and South Carolina. The Bulldogs are 3-3 at home against the two teams (1-2 USC and 2-1 vs. UG). Arkansas is 3-2 (1-2 at Georgia and 2-0 at home last weekend against South Carolina).
SERIES NOTES
The Bulldogs and the Razorbacks meet for the 48th time in Friday's series-opener at Dudy Noble Field. State has built up a 27-20 lead in the series that dates back to 1960. MSU won the first 10 Hog-Dog diamond battles and has taken three of the last four meetings. The Bulldogs won last year's series in Fayetteville (5-6, 9-3, 10-2) and claimed the only game played in a rain-shortened one-game 2000 series in Starkville (3-2). The Razorbacks own a 17-14 series lead since Arkansas joined the SEC for the 1992 campaign, and the clubs have evenly split their 10 weekend sets. The visiting team in this divisional rivalry has won in six of the 10 series matchups.
From 1980 until 1985 the teams played nine well-attended neutral site games in Mississippi (Greenville) and Arkansas (Helena and Little Rock). State won six of those nine meetings.
The series matches two of college baseball's most successful veteran coaches.
Beginning the week, Arkansas' Norm DeBriyn had 1,144 career coaching wins in 32-plus years, all at Arkansas. Bulldog skipper Ron Polk enters the week with 1,139 career wins in 28-plus seasons. They entered the year ranked 10th and 11th respectively in wins among the nation's active NCAA Division I baseball coaches.
Polk is 21-14 lifetime against Arkansas.
SCHEDULE CHANGES
The MSU-Mississippi Valley State game rained out Mar. 20 and rescheduled as part of an Apr. 10 MVSU-MSU twinbill has now been moved to Wednesday, May 8 (6:30 p.m.).
Mississippi State has also added a game to its home schedule to replace the SEC game not played during the Easter weekend series at LSU. MSU will host West Alabama (formerly Livingston) Wednesday, Apr. 24, in a 6:30 p.m. game at Dudy Noble Field. It will be the first meeting between the schools since 1994.
Season ticket holders are advised to use the original MSU-MVSU game ticket from Mar. 20 for the May 8 makeup date. And any 2002 MSU baseball season ticket can be used for admission to the Apr. 24 add-on game with West Alabama.