Friday, March 17
Fayetteville, Ark.
6:30 PM
Mississippi State
at
Arkansas
MSU has won four straight over Arkansas, the last time being the game that clinched the 2016 SEC Championship for State.
MSU Opens SEC Play On The Road Against Arkansas
March 16, 2017 | Baseball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Riding a five-game winning streak, Mississippi State (12-6) will open Southeastern Conference play this weekend on the road with a three-game series vs. Arkansas (14-4) at Baum Stadium.
The series will open on Friday at 6 p.m. CT, with Saturday's game to be nationally-televised on the SEC Network at 7 p.m. The series finale is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
MSU is coming off a 2016 SEC season in which the Bulldogs set a program record for SEC wins in a season with 21. State also won five SEC road series last season, also a program record.
The last time the Diamond Dawgs and Razorbacks met, MSU clinched the 2016 SEC Regular Season Championship with a 9-4 win on May 21. State has also won the last four meetings between the two programs dating back to 2015, with a 52-44 lead in the all-time series. Arkansas leads the series 21-17 for games played in Fayetteville.
VIDEO: Andy Cannizaro previews SEC Opening Weekend at Arkansas
Game Notes | Live Stats
NEED TO KNOW
Friday – MSU LHP Konnor Pilkington (2-2, 1.73 ERA) vs. ARK RHP Blaine Knight (1-1, 2.79 ERA)
Saturday – MSU RHP Peyton Plumlee (2-0, 1.88 ERA) vs. ARK RHP Trevor Stephan (3-0, 0.75 ERA)
Sunday – MSU TBA vs. ARK TBA
WEEKEND WEATHER FORECAST
Friday Forecast: High 65, Low 41 – PM Thunderstorms – 50% Chance of Rain
Saturday Forecast: High 67, Low 41 – Sunny – 10% Chance of Rain
Sunday Forecast: High 68, Low 50 – Partly Cloudy – 10% Chance of Rain
LIVE VIDEO & TELEVISION
Friday and Sunday's games with both air live on SEC Network+ via WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app, with Friday's game also featured in the SEC Network's Bases Loaded whip around coverage on the opening day of the SEC season. Saturday's contest will be a nationally-televised affair on SEC Network.
Watch Friday's Game | Watch Saturday's Game | Watch Sunday's Game
LIVE AUDIO & RADIO
Friday and Sunday's games will air live on the Mississippi State Baseball Radio Network and WKBB 100.9 in Starkville. Saturday's game will air only on WLZA 96.1 in the Starkville area. All three games will also be audio streamed live online at HailState.com/Plus (requires subscription), while Friday and Sunday's games will also air on TuneIn Radio.
TICKETS
Fans can still purchase general admission tickets for each of this weekend's games in Fayetteville here.
FOLLOW THE DIAMOND DAWGS
For more information on the Diamond Dawg program, follow the program on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateBB." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."
The series will open on Friday at 6 p.m. CT, with Saturday's game to be nationally-televised on the SEC Network at 7 p.m. The series finale is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
MSU is coming off a 2016 SEC season in which the Bulldogs set a program record for SEC wins in a season with 21. State also won five SEC road series last season, also a program record.
The last time the Diamond Dawgs and Razorbacks met, MSU clinched the 2016 SEC Regular Season Championship with a 9-4 win on May 21. State has also won the last four meetings between the two programs dating back to 2015, with a 52-44 lead in the all-time series. Arkansas leads the series 21-17 for games played in Fayetteville.
VIDEO: Andy Cannizaro previews SEC Opening Weekend at Arkansas
Game Notes | Live Stats
NEED TO KNOW
- MSU is 6-0 this season when scoring in the first inning & 5-1 when scoring first.
- Seven of State's 11 wins this season have come in comeback fashion.
- Each of the last 10 games for State have been decided by just three runs or fewer, six of which were one-run games.
- The Diamond Dawgs are 8-2 this season when hitting at least one home run and 11-2 when out-hitting their opponent.
- MSU stole a program record 10 bases on Tuesday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
- State has won five straight games.
- The four Bulldogs that have started all 18 games this season for MSU (Jake Mangum, Luke Alexander, Ryan Gridley and Brent Rooker) are batting a combined .384 (109-for-284) with 28 doubles, 10 home runs, 64 RBIs, 29 steals and 72 runs scored.
- MSU leads the league in stolen bases (40), while ranking second in home runs (19) and hit by pitch (24).
- Three Diamond Dawgs rank in the top 12 for batting average - Brent Rooker (.431, 3rd), Jake Mangum (.403, 7th), Ryan Gridley (.380, 12th).
- Rooker leads the SEC in slugging percentage (.831), RBIs (27), doubles (10), total bases (54) and stolen bases (12). Rooker also is second in home runs (5) and third in hits (28) & on-base percentage (.537).
- Mangum leads the conference in runs scored (26), while ranking second in hits (31) and hits per game (1.72).
- Rooker has hit go-ahead home runs in two of the last three games (South Alabama & Columbia).
- Against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Rooker became the first Bulldog to hit three doubles in a game since March 11, 2009. Rooker also stole three bases, the most by an MSU player since Jacob Robson against Marshall on Feb. 20, 2015.
- After hitting .190 (4-for-21) through the first five games of the season, Gridley has since hit .460 (23-for-50) with 14 runs, 15 RBI, three doubles, three home runs, a .700 slugging percentage and .517 on-base percentage.
- Ryan Gridley and Tanner Poole have homered in consecutive games (Columbia & Arkansas-Pine Bluff).
- In 29 games as a freshman in 2016, Alexander recorded 14 hits, 11 runs, one double, two home runs and nine RBIs, and through just 18 games in 2017 he has already either matched or surpassed last year's totals in each of those categories (23 hits, 17 runs, seven doubles, two home runs and 14 RBIs)
- Mangum made his first career appearance as a pitcher on Saturday vs. South Alabama, going 0.2 innings and allowing no runs while earning the save. Mangum followed it up on Tuesday with his first collegiate start on the mound as he tossed 3.0 perfect innings with five strikeouts in a winning effort.
- With a career-high 13 strikeouts against South Alabama (March 10) in his last outing, Konnor Pilkington became the first MSU pitcher to throw 13+ strikeouts since Jacob Lindgren threw the same amount vs. St. Joseph's on March 1, 2013.
Friday – MSU LHP Konnor Pilkington (2-2, 1.73 ERA) vs. ARK RHP Blaine Knight (1-1, 2.79 ERA)
Saturday – MSU RHP Peyton Plumlee (2-0, 1.88 ERA) vs. ARK RHP Trevor Stephan (3-0, 0.75 ERA)
Sunday – MSU TBA vs. ARK TBA
WEEKEND WEATHER FORECAST
Friday Forecast: High 65, Low 41 – PM Thunderstorms – 50% Chance of Rain
Saturday Forecast: High 67, Low 41 – Sunny – 10% Chance of Rain
Sunday Forecast: High 68, Low 50 – Partly Cloudy – 10% Chance of Rain
LIVE VIDEO & TELEVISION
Friday and Sunday's games with both air live on SEC Network+ via WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app, with Friday's game also featured in the SEC Network's Bases Loaded whip around coverage on the opening day of the SEC season. Saturday's contest will be a nationally-televised affair on SEC Network.
Watch Friday's Game | Watch Saturday's Game | Watch Sunday's Game
LIVE AUDIO & RADIO
Friday and Sunday's games will air live on the Mississippi State Baseball Radio Network and WKBB 100.9 in Starkville. Saturday's game will air only on WLZA 96.1 in the Starkville area. All three games will also be audio streamed live online at HailState.com/Plus (requires subscription), while Friday and Sunday's games will also air on TuneIn Radio.
TICKETS
Fans can still purchase general admission tickets for each of this weekend's games in Fayetteville here.
FOLLOW THE DIAMOND DAWGS
For more information on the Diamond Dawg program, follow the program on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateBB." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."
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