Mississippi State
Southern
Mississippi State Set To Host Southern
April 14, 2025 | Baseball
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State is shaping into form having won back-to-back Southeastern Conference series and five of its last six games overall.
The Diamond Dawgs (22-14) took two from then 12th-ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa over the weekend and return home for a Tuesday night affair against Southern at 6 p.m.
The game will be streamed on SEC Network+ with Bart Gregory and Charlie Winfield on the call.
MSU is 4-0 all-time in the series having outscored the Jaguars 45-12 during the previous meetings, all at Dudy Noble Field. The Bulldogs claimed the last matchup against Southern 14-5 in 2022 with Hunter Hines going 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs and Pico Kohn picking up the win on the mound.
Mississippi State has also won seven-straight midweek games dating back to March 5.
Freshman right-hander Ryan McPherson is scheduled to make his first-career start for State on Tuesday. In 10 appearances, McPherson is 3-0 with one save and a 2.61 earned run average. He has struck out 32 and walked eight over 20 2/3 innings of work out of the bullpen.
Southern will go with redshirt junior righty Jeremiah Newman for his fourth start on the mound. Newman is 0-2 with a 19.29 ERA, eight strikeouts and 21 walks through 9 1/3 innings this year.
The Diamond Dawgs come into the contest hitting .298 with 57 homers and scoring 7.1 runs per game. Chris Lemonis' club has also swiped 33 bases in 39 attempts and maintains a .969 fielding percentage.
Senior shortstop Sawyer Reeves tops Mississippi State with a .377 batting average while junior designated hitter Noah Sullivan and sophomore third baseman Ace Reese are tied for the team lead with 43 hits apiece. Reese is also tied for fifth in the SEC with 12 homers and ranks seventh with 43 RBIs. Junior catcher Ross Highfill is the Bulldogs' leading base thief with nine steals in 11 tries.
Hines' 62 career home runs are tied for the most among active Division I players and rank second all-time in school history, five shy of tying Rafael Palmeiro (1983-85).
MSU's pitching staff continues to be one of the country's elites. Diamond Dawg hurlers rank third nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (12) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.50) and also sit fourth in hits allowed per nine innings (6.97) and WHIP (1.16).
State's staff sports a 3.68 ERA with 403 strikeouts and 115 walks across 301 innings this year. Opponents are hitting just .210 against them.
Kohn leads the Bulldogs with 70 strikeouts on the campaign while junior Gavin Black and freshman Cade O'Leary have flawless ERAs. Seniors Stone Simmons and Chase Hungate along with sophomore Luke Dotson have all recorded two saves to top the team in that category.
Southern is 15-19 this spring but is coming off a series win at home against Alcorn State. The Jaguars claimed the final two games of the series 23-19 on Saturday and 16-6 on Sunday to improve to 7-8 in the SWAC.
Chris Crenshaw's club ranks second nationally with 142 stolen bases on the year and are also third in triples (19) and on-base percentage (.461). Southern is batting .320 as a team with 40 homers and scoring 9.5 runs per game. It also fields at a .958 rate.
Cardell Thibodeaux paces the Jaguars at the plate with 57 hits, .467 batting average and 14 long balls. Thibodeaux leads the country in slugging percentage (.967) and runs scored per game (1.78) and is also tied with Taj Bates for the team lead with 52 RBIs. Jacoby Radcliffe has swiped 25 bases in 31 attempts to lead Southern in steals.
The Jaguars' hurlers hold a collective 10.61 earned run average with 11 pitchers with an ERA featuring four figures. Peyton Huff holds the lowest ERA on the team at 5.06.
Southern's opponents are hitting .337 against its staff with 44 home runs. Ranard Grace has a team-high 54 strikeouts while Huff has notched two of the Jaguars' three saves this season.
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