No. 23 Diamond Dogs Hit The Road To Test No. 3 Arkansas
The series begins Friday at 7:05 p.m. at Baum Stadium/Cole Field. MSU sophomore right-hander Chad Crosswhite (2-1, 3.20) will make his first start of the season and the third of his career in Friday's opener, squaring off against Razorback ace lefty Nick Schmidt (6-0, 1.83). Crosswhite replaces regular Friday night starter Aaron Weatherford, who is expected to be available for relief duty during the weekend.
Mississippi State, hitting .355 overall and a league-best .321 in conference competition, returned to the top of the SEC's overall hitting charts this week following a 17-7 midweek win over Louisiana-Monroe. Four Diamond Dogs enter the weekend with top-eight standing in the league's individual hitting statistics. Shortstop Brandon Turner, honored as the SEC Freshman of the Week this week, ranks second in the SEC with a .438 batting average. The Cleveland, Tenn., product's team-high 46 hits is fourth-most in the SEC and the highest hits total by an SEC freshman in 2007. Also ranking among the league leaders are junior catcher Edward Easley (5th-.429), junior first baseman Mitch Moreland (6th-.398) and senior outfielder Joseph McCaskill (8th-.388).
The Arkansas series begins a four-state, nine-game road run for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs meet South Alabama in Mobile, Ala. (Apr. 10) and at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss. (Apr. 11) and travel to Knoxville, Tenn., for a three-game SEC weekend series against Tennessee (Apr. 13-15). The following week MSU pays a second visit to Trustmark Park, the home of the Mississippi Braves, to take on instate SEC rival Mississippi in the first annual Governor's Cup game (Apr. 18). Trustmark Park officials have moved the game times for both MSU games in Pearl to 7 p.m.
State returns to action at Dudy Noble Field Apr. 20-22, hosting longtime SEC West rival Louisiana State in a three-game series.