Mississippi State
South Carolina
State Returns Home To Host Gamecocks
April 03, 2025 | Baseball
STARKVILLE – After two weekends on the road, Mississippi State returns to the friendly confines of Dudy Noble Field to host South Carolina for a three-game set.
The Bulldogs and Gamecocks enter the weekend with identical Southeastern Conference records and are each in search of their first series victory inside the league. The series starts on Friday at 6 p.m., continues Saturday at 2 p.m. and concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m.
All three games will be streamed on SEC Network+.
MSU will also hold the induction ceremony for the 2025 Ron Polk Ring of Honor as Mitch Moreland, Ted Milton and Mike Proffitt are enshrined in the Adkerson Plaza at Dudy Noble Field on Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
The Diamond Dawgs are set to send junior left-hander Pico Kohn to the mound to start off the series on Friday. Kohn is 4-1 with a 2.66 earned run average, 61 strikeouts and seven walks through 40 2/3 innings. He has limited opposing hitters to an SEC-low .163 batting average against, is tied for the league lead in innings pitched and ranks third in strikeouts.
South Carolina counters with sophomore southpaw Jake McCoy, who is 2-3 with a 6.59 ERA, 48 strikeouts and 15 walks in 28 2/3 frames across eight starts.
State rounds out its starting rotation with a pair of righties for the rest of the weekend. Junior Evan Siary (0-0, 2.45 ERA, 18 K, 4 BB) is slated to start on Saturday while Karson Ligon (2-4, 7.33 ERA, 32 K, 9 BB) goes on Sunday.
The Gamecocks have designated junior lefty Jarvis Evans Jr. (3-0, 3.62 ERA, 32 K, 7 BB) to start Game 2 but have not decided on their pitching plans for Sunday's finale.
The Bulldogs are 17-12 overall and 1-8 in SEC play and are coming off a 5-3 comeback win at Memphis on Tuesday night. Chris Lemonis' club is hitting .301 as a team with 44 home runs and scoring 7.2 runs per game. They're also fielding at a .969 clip and have stolen 33 bases in 37 attempts.
Junior designated hitter Noah Sullivan continues to lead Mississippi State with 34 hits and a .358 batting average. Sophomore third baseman Ace Reese his clubbed a team-high nine homers and driven in 37 runs while sophomore catcher Ross Highfill has swiped nine bags in 11 tries.
Senior first baseman Hunter Hines leads all Division I players with 61 career homers and is currently tied with the legendary Will Clark (1983-85) for No. 2 all-time in school history. Hines has homered in consecutive games and blasted three in his last four outings.
On the mound, the Diamond Dawgs rank second in the country averaging 12.5 strikeouts per game and have a 3.51 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which sits third nationally. MSU hurlers hold a collective 3.94 ERA with 333 strikeouts and 95 walks through 240 innings. Opposing batters are hitting just .211 against them.
Kohn tops the team in strikeouts while Sullivan, Gavin Black and Cade O'Leary have flawless ERAs. Chase Hungate and Luke Dotson have each recorded two of the Bulldogs' six saves this spring.
South Carolina is also 1-8 in SEC play and 18-12 overall. The Gamecocks snapped a seven-game losing skid on Tuesday with an 11-1 home victory over Presbyterian in seven innings.
South Carolina is batting .285 as a team with 29 homers and producing 6.7 runs per game. Under first-year coach Paul Mainieri, the Gamecocks have stolen 30 bases in 38 tries and sport a .974 fielding percentage.
Nathan Hall paces South Carolina with 44 hits, a .383 batting average and nine steals in 11 attempts. Ethan Petry has belted eight long balls and driven in 27 runs to top the team in both categories.
Gamecock pitching has compiled a 4.74 ERA with 314 strikeouts and 128 walks through 258 1/3 innings. Opponents are batting .236 against them with 37 homers.
McCoy has struck out the most hitters on South Carolina's staff while Drew Eskew sports a team-low 1.77 ERA. Brendan Sweeney has notched four of the team's seven saves on the year.
The Gamecock hold a slight 42-39 lead in the series against State. South Carolina took two of three the last time the two teams met in Starkville in 2023. The Bulldogs' win was a 13-3 victory in seven innings thanks in part to a 4-for-4 performance from Hines with a homer, walk and four RBIs.
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