State Heads To Tennessee For Series With Lady Vols
Bulldogs Battle Third-Straight SEC East Opponent
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Fresh off a doubleheader sweep at home on Wednesday evening, the Mississippi State softball team (22-10, 2-4 SEC) will head to Knoxville, Tenn., this weekend to battle the Tennessee Lady Vols (23-11, 2-4) in a three-game series at Tyson Park.
The Big Orange will mark the Maroon and White's third-straight conference opponent from the Eastern Division, having already faced nationally-ranked South Carolina and Georgia in its first two series of the 2003 conference slate. The ODogs will enter Saturday on a two-game winning streak following a twinbill sweep of Birmingham Southern on Wednesday at the Mississippi State Softball Field.
Likewise, Tennessee will face its third-straight opponent from the Western Division having already matched up with nationally-ranked LSU and Alabama. Both teams managed to win one game from each of its first two Southeastern Conference series. Tennessee will enter the weekend fresh off a doubleheader split at home with Princeton on Thursday evening.
"Wednesday night, I thought we did a good job offensively, defensively and on the mound," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "Overall, we came out and we played our game. We put some runs on the board, made some great plays defensively and got good, solid pitching. That is what you look for in those midweek games - to get some confidence built up going into an SEC weekend."
For the second-straight week, MSU will battle one of the SEC's top hitting teams as the Lady Vols enter the series riding a .306 team batting average, good enough for second place in the SEC and inches in front of State's .303 team clip. Offensively, Tennessee is paced by a trio of freshmen with batting numbers well above the .300 plateau. Outfielder Katherine Card paces the club with a .398 (33-for-83) tally, but is followed closely by power hitter Stacey Jennings' .385 average. Jennings' home run (9) and RBI (30) count also rank in the top two among conference leaders.
From the circle, the Lady Vols hold their own as well, as the club has turned in a 2.09 team ERA, led by Jennings' 13-7 record and 1.64 ERA. Though being tabbed National Player of the Week on February 22 by ESPN.com and USA Softball, Jennings is not UT's hottest pitcher. Senior Stephanie Humphrey (6-2, 2.69), who defeated the Bulldogs last season in Starkville, enters the set riding a personal six-game winning streak after knocking off Princeton in the nightcap on Thursday.
"They have a lot of young kids that they are playing this year," said Miller of the Lady Vols. "Typically, when you get a team like that and knowing (UT coaches) Ralph and Karen (Weekly), they are going to be aggressive at the plate, they're going to swing the bats and put some runs on the board. We have to play good defense, we have to get good pitching and, if we can continue to swing the bats like we have been, we'll be in good shape."
State and Tennessee will battle each other for the 15th time in a tightly contested series led by the ODogs, 8-6. The two clubs split a doubleheader last season after rain marred the rubber match of the Starkville series. State took all three games of the last Knoxville series in 2001 by a combined score of 23-6, including a 13-4 victory over the Big Orange in the opener.
Following this weekend's action, Mississippi State will return home on Wednesday and Thursday to square off with perennial SEC Champion and eighth-ranked LSU (20-7, 3-2) in a three-game set at the Mississippi State Softball Field.