Diamond Dogs Battle No. 13 Hogs In Fayetteville

 

The series continues Saturday at 6:35 p.m. and concludes with a 1:05 p.m. contest Sunday. The radio broadcast of all three Mississippi State-Arkansas baseball games will be carried on the 18-station MSU Baseball Radio Network and available on the internet (www.MStateAthletics.com/m2mlive) to Maroon to the Max subscribers, with veteran State sportscaster Jim Ellis describing the action.

 

MSU has shuffled its pitching rotation for the weekend. Sophomore right-hander Chris Stratton (4-3, 4.22) moves into the lead role and is set to make his first career Friday night SEC start in the opener. Stratton, who leads the MSU staff with 49.0 innings pitched and 47 strikeouts, will be looking to rebound from a career-shortest 1.2-inning start last weekend against No. 4 Florida.  State has tabbed junior lefty Nick Routt (0-1, 2.35 ERA) for a Saturday start but has not determined its Sunday starter.

 

Arkansas, ranked as high as 13th in this week’s national polls, has likewise reworked its weekend pitching plans. Freshman Brandon Moore (2-1, 3.40 ERA) and sophomore lefty Randall Fant (1-2, 3.26) will open in games one and two with Sunday’s starter to be announced.

 

Senior third baseman Jarrod Parks (.389), one of MSU’s two 33-game starters this season, sports the SEC’s second-best batting average and paces the Diamond Dogs with 44 hits, 15 extra-base hits and 15 multiple-hit games. MSU’s other 33-game starter, senior shortstop Jonathan Ogden (.292), shares the team RBI lead (27) with Parks.

 

Following the weekend series at Arkansas the Bulldogs close out a five-game road run with a Tuesday night clash in Pearl, Miss., with instate league rival Ole Miss in the fifth annual Governor’s Cup game. First pitch for the game at Trustmark Park is set for 6:36 p.m., with regional television coverage by Comcast Sports Southeast.