No. 8 Bulldogs Test Arkansas State At Dudy Noble Field
Game times are 4 p.m., noon and 1:30 p.m., and gates open 90 minutes prior to each game. The radio broadcast of the games can be heard locally on WFCA-FM (107.9) in French Camp, Miss., the flagship station for the MSU Baseball Radio Network. Saturday's game will be the first of 40 games carried on the statewide radio network.
Pitching ruled during MSU's season-opening series against Marist last weekend at Dudy Noble Field as the Diamond Dogs got quality mound performances from starters Brooks Dunn (6.0 IP, 3 ER), Josh Johnson (6.1 IP, 0 ER) and John Lalor (6.2 IP, 0 ER) in a three-game series sweep (9-2, 3-1, 4-2) of the defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions. The MSU staff compiled a 1.0 ERA in 27 innings of work and piled up 33 strikeouts. Eleven was the lucky number for the MSU hurlers as both Brooks and Johnson retired the first 11 Marist batters they faced and Lalor established a career-best with 11 strikeouts in Sunday's series finale. Relief men Justin Pigott and Aaron Weatherford earned saves in Sunday¹s series-ending doubleheader.
Offensively, Thomas Berkery, making his first career start at shortstop, matched his career-best for hits with a 4-for-5 showing in the season-opening 9-3 win over Marist. Berkery (.385) and fellow co-captain Brad Jones (.231) belted MSU¹s first home runs of the season in the game while senior outfielder Joseph Hunter (.364) and sophomore catcher Edward Easley (.364) hit safely in all three games.
Former Bulldog and Major League Baseball pitching great Jay Powell helped MSU usher in its 116th season of baseball and the 40th season of competition at the current Dudy Noble Field site last weekend, speaking to more than 650 in attendance at last week's "First Pitch/Meet the Team" banquet and then throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in Friday's season-opener.
Arkansas State has bolted to an impressive start in 2006 campaign. Picked to finish sixth in the Sun Belt Conference, the Tribe knocked off Kentucky 7-3 and Michigan State 9-8 in the Lamar Cardinal Classic and used a 10-run second-inning burst to top No. 18 Mississippi 14-9 Tuesday night in Oxford. Keith Kessinger, a three-time second-team All-SEC shortstop during his collegiate career at Mississippi (1987-89), is in his fourth season as head coach at Arkansas State. He previously served two seasons as head coach at Carson-Newman College.
WELCOME BACK, OLD FRIEND: MSU baseball greats Jeff Brantley, Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro and Bobby Thigpen were suited up for State the last time Mississippi State and Arkansas State squared off on the diamond. The Bulldogs prevailed 13-4 and 12-5 in that day/night doubleheader at the Dude on April 2, 1985. The wins increased MSU¹s series lead to 37-10 in a rivalry that dates back to 1958. State has captured 17 of the last 19 games in the series dating back to 1976, Ron Polk¹s first season at MSU. MSU holds a 24-3 series lead in games played in Starkville, 14-3 at the current Dudy Noble Field site.
ON DECK: State plays its first midweek games of the season next week, hosting Louisiana Tech (Mar. 7) and Louisiana-Monroe (Mar. 8) in 4 p.m. contests before hosting Arizona (Mar. 10-12) in this year's Cadence Bank Classic.
Friday's probable starters:
MSU: LHP-Brooks Dunn (1-0, 4.50, 5 Ks)
ASU: LHP-Joel Boeschen (1-0, 3.18, 16 Ks)
Saturday's probable starters:
MSU: RHP-Josh Johnson (1-0, 0.00, 5 Ks)
ASU: LHP-Taylor Fowler (1-2, 7.98, 11 Ks)
Sunday's probable starters:
MSU: RHP-John Lalor (1-0, 0.00, 11 Ks)
ASU: LHP-Nathan Gates (0-0, 9.28, 14 Ks)