Tuesday, April 25
Pearl, Miss. (Trustmark Park)
6:30 PM
Mississippi State
vs
Ole Miss
The Bulldogs are looking to complete the four-game sweep of the Rebels for the first time since 1997.
Governor's Cup At Stake Tuesday Between No. 7 MSU, Ole Miss
April 24, 2017 | Baseball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Coming off a fifth-straight Southeastern Conference series victory, Mississippi State (28-14) will take on in-state rival Ole Miss for a non-conference midweek matchup on Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss.
With the Governor's Cup going to the winner of the midweek matchup, the Bulldogs and Rebels (25-15) will square off at 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network in the home of the Mississippi Braves, the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.
MSU is now receiving top 10 rankings from multiple publications (7th in Collegiate Baseball and 8th in Baseball America) after a 3-1 showing last week and an 8-2 record over their last 10. In the rest of the top 25 polls, State is ranked no lower than 13 (10th in D1 Baseball, 11th in Perfect Game, 13th in USA Today Coaches and NCBWA).
Earlier this season, State swept Ole Miss in Oxford during their three-game SEC series, March 30-April 1. The Bulldogs are looking to complete the four-game sweep for the first time since 1997, when the Bulldogs swept the Rebels in Oxford after winning the Mayor's Trophy in Jackson at Smith-Wills Stadium.
Since moving the game to Pearl in 2007 and changing the name from the Mayor's Trophy to Governor's Cup, MSU is 6-4 at Trustmark Park against the Rebels. The Bulldogs are 19-18 in the annual neutral site meeting, since it began in 1980 with the first edition.
Fans can still purchase tickets through the Mississippi Braves website here. The Bulldogs will occupy the first base dugout and will serve as the visitors.
Game Notes | Live Stats | Tickets
NEED TO KNOW
PITCHING MATCHUP
MSU Fr. RHP Denver McQuary (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. OM Fr. RHP Greer Holston (2-2, 3.20 ERA)
WEATHER
Tuesday's Forecast (April 25) – High 86, Low 59 – Sunny – 10% Chance of Rain
LIVE VIDEO & TELEVISION
Tuesday's game will be nationally televised on the SEC Network and for fans that are unable to watch it on the SEC Network; the game will be streamed on WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.
Watch Tuesday's Game
LIVE AUDIO & RADIO
Tuesday's contest will air live on the Mississippi State Baseball Radio Network. The game can also be audio streamed live online at HailState.com/Plus (requires subscription), as well as on TuneIn Radio.
TICKETS
Fans can still purchase tickets through the Mississippi Braves website here. The Bulldogs will occupy the first base dugout and will serve as the visitors.
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."
With the Governor's Cup going to the winner of the midweek matchup, the Bulldogs and Rebels (25-15) will square off at 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network in the home of the Mississippi Braves, the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.
MSU is now receiving top 10 rankings from multiple publications (7th in Collegiate Baseball and 8th in Baseball America) after a 3-1 showing last week and an 8-2 record over their last 10. In the rest of the top 25 polls, State is ranked no lower than 13 (10th in D1 Baseball, 11th in Perfect Game, 13th in USA Today Coaches and NCBWA).
Earlier this season, State swept Ole Miss in Oxford during their three-game SEC series, March 30-April 1. The Bulldogs are looking to complete the four-game sweep for the first time since 1997, when the Bulldogs swept the Rebels in Oxford after winning the Mayor's Trophy in Jackson at Smith-Wills Stadium.
Since moving the game to Pearl in 2007 and changing the name from the Mayor's Trophy to Governor's Cup, MSU is 6-4 at Trustmark Park against the Rebels. The Bulldogs are 19-18 in the annual neutral site meeting, since it began in 1980 with the first edition.
Fans can still purchase tickets through the Mississippi Braves website here. The Bulldogs will occupy the first base dugout and will serve as the visitors.
Game Notes | Live Stats | Tickets
NEED TO KNOW
- 20 of MSU's 28 wins this season have been in comeback fashion with 11 of those having been in Southeastern Conference play.
- The Diamond Dawgs have now won 13 of their last 15 SEC games and five-straight conference series. The Bulldogs are off to their best SEC start since the 1989 team got off to a 16-2 record in its first 18 SEC games.
- Since March 13, 2016, the Diamond Dawgs are 34-13 in SEC regular season play. State has also won 14 of its last 16 SEC regular season series dating back to 2016.
- MSU is 13-3 when scoring in the first inning this season, 24-4 when having out-hit their opponents, 22-2 when leading after six innings and 17-3 when holding opponents to four or fewer runs.
- While ranking second in the SEC in stolen bases (62) and triples (11), State sits third in the league in slugging (.443), hits (415), home runs (40) and total bases (633).
- Brent Rooker leads the SEC in nine offensive categories – batting average (.400), slugging (.877), on-base percentage (.505), hits (62), RBIs (58), doubles (20) home runs (16), total bases (136) and steals (16).
- With 20 doubles this season, Rooker is just outside the top 10 for doubles in a single season in the MSU record books.
- Three Bulldogs rank in the top six in the SEC in hits – Brent Rooker (62, T-1st), Jake Mangum (59, T-4th) and Ryan Gridley (57, T-6th).
- Hunter Stovall is currently riding a seven-game hit streak dating back to April 14 at South Caro-lina.
- MSU closer Spencer Price leads the SEC and all of Division I baseball in saves with 14.
- Riley Self recorded his first-career save in game two of the Alabama series, by striking out four in 1.2 innings pitched.
- In SEC play, Cody Brown has been the best hitter for the Bulldogs with a .375 batting average 24-for-65) in 17 games.
- State has received five wins on the mound from three of its position players in OF Brant Blay-lock (1-0), 1B Cole Gordon (2-0) and OF Jake Mangum (2-1).
- After not pitching since his junior year of high school, Brant Blaylock holds a 2.45 ERA through two appearances in relief. He has four strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched.
- Tanner Poole notched multi-hit games in all three games during the series vs. Alabama and over the weekend hit .538 (7-for-13) with one double for eight total bases and one RBI for a .615 slugging percentage and .571 on-base percentage. On Thursday, he was responsible for half of MSU's six runs on a career-high three hits. His RBI single in the first tied the game at one, and he scored two more.
- In Game 2 of Friday's doubleheader, MSU scored nine runs on seven hits in the sixth inning. It was the biggest inning for MSU since Feb. 21, 2015 when they scored the same amount on Alabama A&M in the second inning.
- After that game ended with a State walk-off win, MSU now has four walk-off wins this season.
- Luke Alexander had two go-ahead hits in Game 2 off the bench, a two-run home run in the sixth inning. He later hit the game-winning single in the 13th.
- Konnor Pilkington (4-3, 3.30 ERA) made his 10th start of the season on Thursday and earned his seventh quality start, striking out five over 5.2 innings and allowing only four earned runs for the win.
- In all nine starts this season, Pilkington has thrown at least five strikeouts (77 total). His 77 strikeouts rank second in the SEC, as does the number of batters he has struck out looking (28).
PITCHING MATCHUP
MSU Fr. RHP Denver McQuary (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. OM Fr. RHP Greer Holston (2-2, 3.20 ERA)
WEATHER
Tuesday's Forecast (April 25) – High 86, Low 59 – Sunny – 10% Chance of Rain
LIVE VIDEO & TELEVISION
Tuesday's game will be nationally televised on the SEC Network and for fans that are unable to watch it on the SEC Network; the game will be streamed on WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.
Watch Tuesday's Game
LIVE AUDIO & RADIO
Tuesday's contest will air live on the Mississippi State Baseball Radio Network. The game can also be audio streamed live online at HailState.com/Plus (requires subscription), as well as on TuneIn Radio.
TICKETS
Fans can still purchase tickets through the Mississippi Braves website here. The Bulldogs will occupy the first base dugout and will serve as the visitors.
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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