State Closes 2007 Road Slate With Weekend Series At Georgia
Sophomore right-hander Chad Crosswhite (6-2, 4.24), will draw his sixth start of the campaign in Friday's series opener opposite Georgia sophomore righty Stephen Dodson (4-4, 2.44).
The Bulldogs are eager to bounce back from losses in a pair of closely-contested midweek games against Ohio Valley Conference-leading Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn. State dropped a 3-2 decision in 11 innings at APSU Tuesday night and allowed four unearned runs in a 7-5 Wednesday night setback.
Freshman infielder Brandon Turner (.427), the SEC's second-leading hitter heading into the weekend, returned to the MSU lineup Wednesday after missing five starts with a hamstring injury. The Cleveland, Tenn., product, with 38 starts this season at shortstop, made his return to the Bulldog lineup at second base, his second start at the position this season.
MSU's regular starter at second, senior co-captain Jeffrey Rea, opened the game in center field, his second career start as an outfielder. Rea tallied a pair of hits in the midweek to raise his career hits total to 314, cracking the SEC's top 10 list in the category. The Nettleton, Miss., product is tied for ninth on the SEC's all-time career hits charts with Alabama's Brent Boyd and Tennessee's Chris Burke, and is two hits shy of catching Steve Gendron (316 hits), third on MSU's career hits list and eighth in the SEC. Rea sports a .969 fielding percentage, second-highest among league second basemen.
Junior catcher Edward Easley hit his team-leading 12th home run of the campaign in the midweek and leads the Bulldogs with 52 runs scored and 54 RBI. Easley, who is riding a nine-game hitting streak, has gunned down 24 base-stealers in 2007, tops in the Southeastern Conference.
The Bulldogs registered the school's first three-game SEC series sweep since 2004 and State's first at home since 2002 with last weekend's 3-0 showing against Auburn. State claimed the opener 4-1, notched a series-clinching 11-6 win on Saturday and, on the strength of Andy Rice's ninth-inning grand slam, nailed down the sweep with a 9-5 Sunday victory.
Georgia enters its final home weekend series having notched a pair of impressive wins over ranked teams in two of its last three games. Georgia shut out top-ranked Vanderbilt 7-0 last Saturday at Foley Field and turned back No. 24 Georgia Tech 9-4 Wednesday night in Athens. Junior outfielder Matt Olsen paces Georgia at the plate with a .318 batting average, while sophomore shortstop Gordon Beckham leads his team with 12 home runs and 45 RBI. Georgia lead-off hitter and third baseman Ryan Peisel, begins the weekend with a 17-game hitting streak while sophomore lefty Nathan Moreau is the recipient of the SEC Pitcher of the Week award following last Saturday's pitching gem in a shutout win over top-ranked Vanderbilt.
State holds a narrow 36-33 all-time series lead in its baseball rivalry with Georgia, though Georgia has reeled off four consecutive SEC series wins against State. UGA claimed last year's series at Dudy Noble Field two games to one (5-15, 6-1, 4-2). MSU skipper Ron Polk owns a 32-25 all-time coaching mark against Georgia. Polk served as head coach at Georgia for two seasons (2000-2001) and was 1-1 against MSU in two meetings, both in SEC Tournament competition.
MSU enters the ninth weekend of the 10-weekend Southeastern Conference season in second place in the SEC West, two games behind division-leading Arkansas (36-14, 16-8 SEC) and a game ahead of instate SEC rival Mississippi (32-18, 13-11 SEC). The league teams with the top eight winning percentages in conference play advance to the SEC Baseball Tournament May 23-27 at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.
The SEC's Baseball Bulldogs continue their weekend diamond battles with 1 p.m. (CDT) games Saturday and Sunday.