Diamond Dogs Host Crimson Tide To Close Out Regular Season
Sophomore right-hander Chad Crosswhite (7-2, 4.18) will open on the hill for the Bulldogs Thursday. Alabama will open with sophomore righty Tommy Hunter (6-4, 3.65).
With only two teams having nailed down berths in next week's SEC Tournament, both the Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide are jockeying to reach the double-elimination event which opens next Wednesday at the refurbished Regions Park (formerly the Hoover Met) in Hoover, Ala.
State begins the weekend in second place in the SEC West, trailing division leader Arkansas 37-16, 17-10 SEC) by two games. A single win this weekend would clinch Mississippi State's 26th SEC tournament berth in 31 years of the event. MSU, picked for a last place finish in the SEC West in the SEC preseason coaches' poll, is still in the hunt for its first SEC Western Division crown since 1987. MSU needs three weekend wins against Alabama and a pair of Arkansas losses in the Razorbacks' season-ending home series against Mississippi. In its last home series MSU knocked off Auburn in three games for its first league series sweep at home since 2001.
Alabama, after taking two of three games from West-leading Arkansas last weekend in Tuscaloosa, enters the weekend in fourth place in the SEC West and seventh in the SEC's overall. The Crimson Tide and five other teams are within two games of each other and in the thick of a battle for one of the remaining SEC Tournament berths.
The Bulldogs had their non-conference season finale against Arkansas-Little Rock rained out Tuesday night, the fifth rainout of the campaign for Mississippi State.
MSU, second in the SEC with a .323 team batting average, begins the Alabama series with two players ranked among the SEC's top 10 in hitting. Freshman shortstop Brandon Turner, slowed by a hamstring injury, ranks second in the league with a .414 batting average. Junior catcher Edward Easley is hitting at a .376 clip, seventh-highest batting average in the SEC. Easley, one of three finalists for the 2007 Cellular South Ferriss Trophy as the state's top collegiate player, leads the club with 73 hits, 12 home runs and 57 RBI. The Olive Branch, Miss., product enters the weekend with a 12-game hitting streak.
Bulldog senior second baseman Jeffrey Rea of Nettleton, Miss., sports a .404 batting average against SEC foes, second-best in the league. Rea has tallied 320 career hits to rank third on MSU's career hits list and seventh among the SEC's all-time career hits leaders.
Alabama is paced at the plate by senior outfielder Emeel Salem (.360, 22 stolen bases), currently riding a 10-game hitting streak and the team leader with 24 multiple-hit games. Sophomore third baseman Alex Avila (.300, 53 RBI) leads the Tide with 27 extra-base hits, including a team-high 12 home runs. Bama's opening-night starter, Tommy Hunter, ranks ninth in the SEC with 84 strikeouts.
Rea is one of seven Bulldog senior players that will be honored prior to Friday's 6:30 p.m. game. The series and MSU's 2007 regular season schedule concludes Sunday with a 2 p.m. game.