Diamond Dawg Gameday: at Long Beach State

by: Greg Campbell, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – After playing its first eight games of the 2020 campaign at Dudy Noble Field, the Mississippi State baseball program will head west for a three-game series at Long Beach State starting on Friday (Feb. 28) at 8 p.m. CT.

The Diamond Dawgs and Dirtbags will continue the series on Saturday (Feb. 29) at 5 p.m. CT and conclude the series at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday (March 1). The series opener will air on the Mississippi State Radio Network, while the final two games will be available on 96.1 FM. Video of each game can be foiund at the links below.

Mississippi State (6-2) and Long Beach State (6-2) have met only once prior to this weekend's series. The Dirtbags won that meeting, 2-1, at the 1993 NCAA East Regional in Tallahassee, Florida.

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Gameday Info
Friday, February 28 (8 p.m. CT)
Probable Starters
MSU: Carlisle Koestler, RHP, Gr.
LBSU: Adam Seminaris, LHP, Jr.

Live Video: https://hailst.at/2VuYqe2
Live Audio: https://hailst.at/audio
Live Stats: https://hailst.at/2I11iqX

Saturday, February 29 (5 p.m. CT)
Probable Starters
MSU: Christian MacLeod, LHP, R-Fr.
LBSU: Alfredo Ruiz, LHP, So.

Live Video: https://hailst.at/2PuUqq4
Live Audio: https://hailst.at/audio
Live Stats: https://hailst.at/397jDhV

Sunday, March 1 (1 p.m. CT)
Probable Starters
MSU: Eric Cerantola, RHP, So.
LBSU: Luis Ramirez, RHP, Fr.

Live Video: https://hailst.at/2VsR3DK
Live Audio: https://hailst.at/audio
Live Stats: https://hailst.at/2T5K1TX

All three games can be heard via the live audio stream at HailState.com/plus.

Quick Hitters

The Diamond Dawgs and Dirtbags have just one previous meeting on the docket, as Long Beach State claimed a 2-1 victory over Mississippi State in the 1993 East Regional.
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Since 1992, Mississippi State has only played on February 29th three other times, owning a 2-1 record on the leap year date.
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Juniors Tanner Allen and Jordan Westburg each enter the week with 20-plus straight games reached base. Westburg (28) and Allen (26) carry those streaks over from the 2019 College World Series campaign.
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Redshirt-freshman Christian MacLeod struck out 11 batters in his first career start versus Wright State on Saturday, February 15, the most by a Diamond Dawg in a season debut in program history.
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Senior Riley Self owns 77 career relief appearances, a total that ranks No. 7 on MSU's career charts. He is just four appearances shy of cracking the top five.
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The Voice of the Diamond Dawgs, Jim Ellis, enters his 42nd season on the airwaves and was awarded the Wilbur Snypp Award from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, which is awarded yearly to someone for contributions to the game of college baseball.
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Scouting The Opponent

Long Beach State enters the weekend with a 6-2 record, including four straight wins. The Dirtbags defeated San Diego, 10-3, in its last outing.
Last weekend, Dirtbag pitching limited Wake Forrest to five runs on 12 hits in a weekend set. They held Wake Forrest scoreless the last 16 innings of the three-game series.
Freshman Luiz Ramirez tossed seven innings allowing one unearned run on three hits while recording 12 strikeouts versus Wake Forrest. On the year, Ramirez has 15 strikeouts and just two walks in 11 1/3 innings of work.
Leading hitter Jacob Hughey returns for his redshirt senior season after batting .324 in 2019.

Series Notes

Friday will mark the first regular season meeting between Mississippi State and Long Beach State and just the second meeting all-time.
The only other meeting came in the 1993 NCAA East Regional in Tallahassee, Florida.
Overall, MSU is 12-17 all-time against the current alignment of the Big West. The Bulldogs have faced five of the nine members of the conference, with CSUN, Cal Poly, UC Irvine and UC Davis the only members it has not faced on the diamond.

Diamond Dawg Gameday: at Long Beach State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tanner Allen

Eric Cerantola

Carlisle Koestler

Christian MacLeod

Riley Self

Jordan Westburg

Mississippi State University Athletics

Diamond Dawg Gameday: at Long Beach State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tanner Allen

Eric Cerantola

Carlisle Koestler

Christian MacLeod

Riley Self

Jordan Westburg

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