Bulldogs Set For Two Non-Conference Midweeks
March 21, 2016 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Following a weekend in which the Mississippi State softball team (19-8) opened Southeastern Conference play, State will step out of league play for a pair of non-conference games at Nusz Park.
MSU will take on Southeastern Louisiana (17-12) Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. CT and Central Arkansas (18-10) Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CT in a nationally-televised matchup on SEC Network.
TICKETS
Admission is free for all regular season games at Nusz Park.
FOLLOW LIVE
Tuesday's game will air on SEC Network+, exclusively through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. The voice of Bulldog softball, Anthony Craven, will have the call. Wednesday's matchup with UCA will be nationally televised on the SEC Network as Melissa Lee and Leigh Ross will lead the broadcast. Live stats will also be available for both games and can be found at HailState.com.
Watch Tuesday's Game | Watch Wednesday's Game
REMATCH WEEK
State has already faced Southeastern Louisiana and Central Arkansas this season, with both games having resulted in Bulldog victories. MSU took down the Lions 8-0 in five innings on the road (Monday, Feb. 22) before downing the Bears 3-0 in Starkville as part of the Bulldog Slamboree (Saturday, March 5).
LAST TIME OUT
MSU opened Southeastern Conference play last weekend vs. a No. 3 Auburn team that entered weekend averaging 1.52 home runs per game (fifth in the nation), but only had one over the three-game series. Auburn ranked first in the nation in scoring (10.52 runs per game) and only scored eight total over three games (28 innings). Only four of the eight runs were earned.
The Bulldogs and Tigers played a 14-inning marathon contest Friday in game one of the series, a game in which State starter Alexis Silkwood went 13.1 innings in the circle and set program records for pitcher (216) and batters faced (58). MSU took game two Saturday after having jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings, but dropped the rubber match Sunday.
TEAM & PLAYER NOTES
· State checked in at No. 31 in the first RPI ranking of the season Monday as the Bulldogs are set to play 21 games over the remainder of the regular season vs. teams with RPIs in the top 30.
· Vann Stuedeman's club is 7-3 this season against teams that made the 2015 NCAA Tournament with 20 more such games remaining on the schedule. 12 of those games will be against teams that made the 2015 Women's College World Series, while six others will be against 2015 Super Regional Teams.
· On the year the pitching staff's 1.31 ERA ranks second in the SEC and third in the nation, while their earned runs allowed (36) ranks second in the SEC and their opposing batting average (.181) third.
· Four pitchers have ERAs in top 11 in the SEC – freshman Cori Cooper (3rd – 0.75), freshman Regan Green (7th – 1.11), sophomore Holly Ward (9th – 1.16) and junior Alexis Silkwood (11th – 1.28)
ON DECK FOR MSU
The Bulldogs will return to SEC play to take on No. 16 Tennessee for their first road conference series of the 2016 season Friday, March 25 through Sunday, March 27. The series will open with game one Friday at 5 p.m. CT.
GET SOCIAL WITH STATE
For more information on the MSU softball program, follow “HailStateSB” on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can also find all-access coverage of the Bulldogs on SnapChat by searching for “HailStateSnap.”