Dogs Host First-Time Foe Central Arkansas Bears Tuesday

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State plays its final regular season non-conference game of the campaign Tuesday night when the Bulldogs (31-20/13-14 SEC) play host to first-time foe Central Arkansas (23-26) in a 6:30 p.m. game at Dudy Noble Field.

It's the first of four games over a five-day span at Dudy Noble Field for the Bulldogs, who begin the week in a three-way tie for seventh in the overall SEC standings and but a game out of second place in the SEC Western Division. Freshman Brandon Woodruff (0-1, 3.68) will open on the mound in his fourth start of season for the Bulldogs against UCA.

The radio broadcast of the MSU-Central Arkansas game will be carried on the statewide MSU Baseball Radio Network, with Jim Ellis and Bart Gregory describing the action. Live audio and high definition video streaming is also available online on a subscription basis (www.HailState.com/hstvlive).

State registered a Saturday win in a closely-contested pitching-dominated weekend series at No. 5 Florida to clinch its 28^th SEC Tournament berth. MSU entertains SEC-leading Kentucky (41-11, 18-9 SEC) Thursday through Saturday in a finale weekend series that will go a long way in determining seedings for the expanded 10-team league tournament May 22-27 at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.

Game times for the MSU-UK series are set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, 7:06 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. MSU will honor two senior players and two senior managers prior to Friday's televised (SportSouth) game. Special-priced tickets for MSU faculty and staff members will be available at the stadium ticket office for all three games of the Kentucky series. MSU baseball player cards will also be distributed to fans at Thursday's 6:30 p.m. game.

The Mississippi State pitching staff begins the weekend with the SEC's top earned run average, 2.71, fourth-best in the NCAA.