After cracking the top 25 in the latest RPI rankings following Wednesday night’s Governor’s Cup victory over Ole Miss, No. 16 Mississippi State returns to Dudy Noble Field this weekend for a three-game series against No. 23 Alabama.
The Crimson Tide (28-16, 9-12 Southeastern Conference) have played well at home in SEC action, taking series from Tennessee, South Carolina and Arkansas. But the road has not been kind to Alabama — the Tide were swept at Georgia and Kentucky before taking two of three last weekend at Ole Miss.
Alabama has five starting position players batting .320 or better, led by Gage Miller, who carries an impressive .386/.483/.784 triple slash with 18 home runs and more walks than strikeouts. Justin Lebron, TJ McCants and Will Hodo also have gone deep at least 10 times, and catcher Mac Guscette is hitting .364, albeit without much power.
Greg Farone, Zane Adams and Ben Hess have combined to start 32 of the Crimson Tide’s 44 games, but while Farone and Adams have given Alabama a chance to win most of the time, Hess cannot say the same. Farone (52 1/3 IP, 3.10 ERA) is the staff ace, and Adams (44 2/3 IP, 4.43 ERA) has been solid, but Hess, despite solid strikeout numbers and an opponents’ batting average of .226, has a 7.31 ERA in 44 1/3 innings.
Alton Davis and Braylon Myers are the Tide’s most consistently reliable relievers. As a whole, though, Alabama’s team ERA of 5.85 is third-worst in the SEC, better than only Ole Miss and Florida. The Tide have struck out fewer batters than anyone except Auburn and Kentucky, and only Auburn has allowed more home runs.
“They’ve played really good baseball of late. So have we,” Bulldogs head coach Chris Lemonis said. “It’s a big weekend for both of us. Should be a packed house at The Dude, I would imagine, this weekend.”
Here are three keys to victory for MSU (30-15, 12-9) as the Bulldogs try to earn their fourth SEC series win at home in as many tries.
Score early, score often
MSU jumped out to big early leads in its two wins at Vanderbilt last weekend, allowing the Bulldogs to survive some shaky defensive innings later on. In their last home series against Auburn and in the Governor’s Cup game against Ole Miss, the Bulldogs’ offense did not come to life until late, so an early outburst or two would help everyone in maroon and white breathe easier.
Avoid the big inning
Building a bridge between the starters and the back end of the bullpen proved challenging in the Vanderbilt series. MSU’s high-leverage arms may not be as fresh as usual entering the weekend after being used Wednesday night, making a lengthy start Friday from Khal Stephen even more important.
Feed off the home crowd
The Bulldogs are 7-2 at home in SEC play and have drawn five-figure crowds with ease. With the Starkville Derby in town and MSU softball and men’s tennis also hosting big games and matches, Dudy Noble Field should be nearly full for all three games this weekend.
“Somebody else has to come play in our park,” Lemonis said. “Our park is arguably one of the toughest to play in in the whole country. I hope it’s loud, I hope it’s packed, and we should have a fun weekend there at The Dude.”
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