Diamond Dogs Test OVC-Leading Austin Peay On The Road
Freshman left-hander Tyler Whitney (5-1, 6.51) will open on the mound for MSU in Tuesday's 6 p.m. game at APSU's Raymond C. Hand Park. Austin Peay (30-17, 15-6 OVC), in first place in the Ohio Valley Conference, will start senior lefty Michael Dunn (2-0, 3.95).
Game two of the series is set for a 6 p.m. start Wednesday. The radio broadcast of both of this week's MSU-APSU games will be carried on the statewide MSU Baseball Radio Network.
The Bulldogs, following a three-game weekend series sweep of SEC West rival Auburn at Dudy Noble Field, climbed two places to a season-highest No. 13 in the latest rankings by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. Junior outfielder Andy Rice delivered a walk-off grand slam home run that broke a 5-5 deadlock and lifted State to a series sweep-clinching 9-5 win Sunday. It was the first three-game SEC series sweep for MSU since 2004 and the Bulldogs' first at Dudy Noble Field since 2002.
State opens the week with a league-best .330 team batting average. Injured freshman shortstop Brandon Turner (.421) leads the team and sports the second-highest batting average in the SEC, while junior catcher Edward Easley is hitting at a .382 clip, the sixth-best mark in the SEC. Easley, a candidate for the Dick Howser Trophy and the Coleman/Johnny Bench Award, has thrown out 22 base-runners, tops among SEC catchers while Turner has missed the last four starts with a hamstring injury. Hs status for this week's road games is uncertain.
Senior second baseman Jeffrey Rea totaled eight hits in the Auburn series, raising his career hits total to 312 and climbing to 11th on the SEC's career hits list. With two hits the Nettleton, Miss., product would join the SEC's career top 10 in the category and with four hits Rea would tie former MSU standout Steve Gendron for third place on the MSU career hits list. Richard Lee set the MSU record for hits in a career with 328 from 1997 to 2000.
The Governors have won 10 of their last 11 games and enter the week riding an eight-game winning streak. APSU topped Easter Illinois 8-2 Sunday to complete a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series sweep and with six games remaining in league play hold a one-game lead over Jacksonville State in the OVC standings. APSU leads the OVD with a 3.88 staff earned run average and a .969 fielding percentage.
Whitney, from Lakeland, Tenn., claimed a win in his Feb. 27 pitching debut against Mississippi Valley State and has earned wins in each of his last four starts. Tuesday's start against APSU will be his first since registering a win in State's 11-2 victory over Southern Miss April 24 in Starkville. He matched season-highs with six innings pitched and eight strikeouts in that game.
Mississippi State edged Austin Peay 4-3 in 2005 in the only previous baseball meeting between the Governors and the Bulldogs.