Diamond Dawgs Head To Memphis On Tuesday

STARKVILLE – The Mississippi State Diamond Dawgs hit the road for a midweek contest at Memphis with first pitch set for 6 p.m.

The matchup will be broadcasted on ESPN+ and will also be carried on the Bulldog Sports Network powered by LEARFIELD, along with a live audio stream via HailState.com/OnDemand.

Gameday Info
Tuesday, Apr. 23 (6 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Pico Kohn, (1-0, 3.00 ERA), LHP, Jr.
Memphis: Logan Rushing, (0-2, 9.92 ERA), LHP, R-So.

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Quick Hitters

The Diamond Dawgs and Tigers meet for the second time this season on Tuesday night. After meeting earlier this season at Dudy Noble Field, the Dawgs head north to face off against the Tigers in Memphis. Mississippi State came away with a 17-9 victory over the Tigers. The Dawgs trailed 9-3 in the fifth. They scored seven runs in the fifth and scored the final 14 runs of the game. Bradley Loftin made the start for the Dawgs and went three innings. Pico Kohn followed and pitched one inning. Connor Hujsak led the team with four RBIs in the game as he went 2-for-4 and had a triple and a homer. Nine different Diamond Dawgs had a hit in the contest.
Tyson Hardin played a vital role in the Dawgs doubleheader sweep of the Tigers of Auburn. In game one of the doubleheader, Hardin came in with the bases loaded and got the final out of the game to earn his first career save. He was available in game two and pitched the final two innings. He did not allow a hit and tallied five punchouts to earn his third win of the season. Since March 21, Hardin has been hard to get when he appears out of the pen. Opponents are hitting .083 off him over his last five appearances. In 7 1/3 innings, he has only allowed two hits and has ten strikeouts.
The Diamond Dawgs Friday night ace, Khal Stephen, shined again this weekend against Auburn. He picked up his third win in a row after pitching seven innings in an 8-1 victory. He tied his career-high in strikeouts with 11. The prior week at Ole Miss, He pitched eight scoreless innings against the Rebels. This tied his career-high and was a season-best. The eight innings pitched were the first time a Diamond Dawg had pitched eight or more innings in a game since Will Bednar pitched eight innings against Alabama on May 21, 2021. Against Ole Miss, the Dawgs won 8-0, the second shutout of the year for the Diamond Dawgs. Since his outing at Texas A&M, Stephen has pitched 34 1/3 innings and has only allowed three earned runs (5 total), striking out 40 and picking up four wins. Over his last five starts, he has posted an ERA of 0.79.
Last Tuesday, the Mississippi State Bulldogs recorded a shutout for the third time this season. The Dawgs shut out Alcorn State on Tuesday night. They also shut out Ole Miss (4/12) and Mount St. Mary's (3/2). The Diamond Dawgs' last shutout prior to this season was June 30, 2021, when they defeated Vanderbilt to win the 2021 National Championship. During the 2021 season, the Diamond Dawgs tallied eight shutouts, four of which came in a row from March 7 to 12. During that span, the Diamond Dawgs defeated Kent State, Grambling, Louisiana, and Eastern Michigan.
Dakota Jordan has shined this season for the Diamond Dawgs. He leads the team in batting average (.378), home runs (15), and RBIs (51). On April 4, Jordan was named to the Golden Spikes Midseason Award Watch List. He is one of 45 players on the list and the ninth Dawg in program history to be named to this list. His 51 RBIs are the 27th most in the NCAA. His 15 homers are the 35th most in the NCAA this season and the eighth most in the SEC. Jordan has the seventh-best batting average in the SEC hitting. 378 this season. Teams have walked Jordan 34 times this season, 11 of which were intentional. This is the seventh-most in the SEC. Jordan's 15 home runs are four homers shy of joining the single season top 10. Five players are tied for tenth with 19. The Diamond Dawgs have not had players hit 20 or more homers in back-to-back seasons since 1985.
The Diamond Dawg pitching staff has tallied the fourth most punchouts in the SEC with 410. Jurrangelo Cijntje leads the Dawgs with 69 strikeouts this season, the sixth most in the SEC. Khal Stephen ranks ninth with 67 punchouts.
The Diamond Dawgs lead the SEC in runners picked off. Mississippi State has picked off 12 runners this season. The next closest team in the SEC to Mississippi State in pickoffs is Tennessee with eight.

The Dude Effect is alive and well. Reserved seating has once again sold out for the season. Mississippi State has sold out reserved seating since 1987.
On March 22 Mississippi State's 5-1 victory over Texas A&M marked their 1,000^th career SEC victory. Only four schools have accomplished this feat. MSU joined Florida, LSU, and Alabama to reach 1,000 wins in SEC games.
Mississippi State is great at turning out major league talent, with 69 Diamond Dawgs reaching the highest level of the sport, but it is also great at keeping student-athletes on campus.

Scouting the Opponent – Memphis

Memphis holds an 18-22 record and a 6-9 American Athletic Conference record. The Tigers are tied for fourth in the AAC.
The Tigers are 11-11 at home this season.
Pierre Seals leads the Memphis offense with a .324 batting average. Seals has put together 48 hits, 25 RBIs and nine home runs through 39 games this season.
The Memphis pitching staff is led by David Warren. Warren has 41 strikeouts and 21 walks to make up a 4.33 ERA in 10 starts this season.

Series History

Mississippi State leads the all-time series 57-27.
The Diamond Dawgs are on a two-game win streak over the Tigers, the last win on March 19, 2024, at Dudy Noble Field.
State is 18-12 when playing at Memphis.

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Diamond Dawgs Head To Memphis On Tuesday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jurrangelo Cijntje

Tyson Hardin

Connor Hujsak

Dakota Jordan

Pico Kohn

Bradley Loftin

Khal Stephen

Mississippi State University Athletics

Diamond Dawgs Head To Memphis On Tuesday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jurrangelo Cijntje

Tyson Hardin

Connor Hujsak

Dakota Jordan

Pico Kohn

Bradley Loftin

Khal Stephen

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