Mississippi State
Alabama
MSU Travels To Tuscaloosa To Take On No. 12 Tide
April 10, 2025 | Baseball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala., - Mississippi State has certainly not been a stranger to the road of late.
The Diamond Dawgs are closing out a stretch of the schedule that has seen them play 11 of 15 contests in a visiting venue. MSU is once again away this weekend with the silver lining of its shortest trip of the season.
The Bulldogs are bound for 12th-ranked Alabama for a three-game set starting Friday at 6 p.m. The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. from Sewell-Thomas Stadium and will wrap up Sunday at 1 p.m.
All three games will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Pico Kohn will once again get the start on the mound for State in Friday's opener. The junior left-hander has made eight starts already this season with a 4-1 record and a 2.96 earned run average. Kohn leads the Diamond Dawgs with 67 strikeouts and has only walked 10 in 45 2/3 innings with opponents hitting just .180 against him, the fourth-best mark in the conference.
The Crimson Tide counter with sophomore southpaw Zane Adams on Friday. Adams is also 4-1 with a 5.09 ERA, 36 strikeouts and 14 walks in 35 1/3 innings and eight starts.
Junior right-hander Evan Siary (0-0, 3.79 ERA, 23 K, 6 BB) is set to make his fourth start of the year for MSU on Saturday while senior righty Karson Ligon (3-4, 5.83 ERA, 40 K, 10 BB) gets the nod for the Bulldogs on Sunday.
Alabama has designated redshirt sophomore righty Riley Quick (4-1, 3.42 ERA, 24 K, 13 BB) as its mound starter for Saturday but has not announced its pitching plans for the finale.
Mississippi State has won the past eight series against the Tide, including taking two of three last season in Starkville. The Diamond Dogs defeated then No. 23 Alabama 13-3 in seven innings and 8-1 in the opening two games before dropping the final contest 10-5.
State has claimed victory in four of its last five contests including an 8-3 road triumph at UAB on Tuesday. The Bulldogs also won the final two games of their series with South Carolina last weekend to earn their first conference series of the season.
State enters the weekend hitting .298 as a team with 51 home runs and scoring 7.2 runs per game. Chris Lemonis' club has swiped 33 bases in 38 chances and fields at a .968 rate.
Junior designated hitter Noah Sullivan leads the Bulldogs with a .360 batting average and 40 hits. Sullivan has also slugged a homer in three-straight games and has belted four over his past five outings. Sophomore third baseman Ace Reese tops the team with 11 round-trippers to go along with 40 RBIs, the ninth-most in the league. Sophomore catcher Ross Highfill continues to lead the team with nine steals in 11 tries.
Senior first baseman Hunter Hines remain in the hunt for the school's all-time home run record. Hines is currently tied with the legendary Will Clark (1983-85) for the second-most all-time in MSU history with 61 career homers, which is also currently No. 2 among active Division I players.
MSU's pitching staff is averaging 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings, the second-best mark in the country in that category. They also rank in the top 10 nationally with a 3.51 strikeout-to-walk ratio (third), 6.88 hits allowed per nine innings (fifth) and a 1.16 WHIP (sixth).
Collectively, Diamond Dawgs hurlers have a 3.78 ERA with 379 strikeouts and 108 walks across 276 innings. Opponents are hitting .207 against them.
Stone Simmons, Chase Hungate and Luke Dotson all have all closed out two games apiece and are responsible for all but one of the team's seven saves. Gavin Black and Cade O'Leary each hold a flawless ERA.
Alabama is 28-6 overall on the spring and features a 7-5 mark in SEC play. Rob Vaughn's roster rebounded from a road series loss at now 11th-ranked Auburn last weekend with a 10-6 win over No. 23 Southern Miss in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday.
The Crimson Tide are also hitting .298 as a team with 58 homers and averaging 8.5 runs per game. Alabama maintains a .977 fielding percentage and has stolen 38 bases in 44 tries on the year.
Kade Snell is the Tide's top hitter at .393 while Justin Lebron has driven in 56 RBI and hit 15 homers, raking first and third in the SEC in those categories respectively. Richie Bonomolo Jr. is the team's top base thief having swiped a dozen bases in 13 attempts.
The Tide's pitching staff sports a 4.55 team ERA with 305 strikeouts and 130 walks through 295 innings of work. Their opposition has hit .244 against them with 26 home runs.
Adams tops Alabama in strikeouts while Carson Ozmer leads the league with 10 saves. Anthony Pesci owns a perfect ERA for the Crimson Tide.
Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the baseball program. Fans can also follow the program on social media by searching 'HailStateBB' on X, Facebook and Instagram.
