Mississippi State
UAB
Bulldogs Begin Alabama Road Swing At UAB
April 07, 2025 | Baseball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., - Mississippi State will spend most of the week playing baseball across the state line.
The Diamond Dawgs will venture to Young Memorial Field on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to take on UAB ahead of their weekend series at 12th-ranked Alabama. Tuesday's contest with the Blazers will be streamed on ESPN+.
MSU is 19-13 overall and coming off its first SEC series win of the season after taking the final two games at home from South Carolina. The Bulldogs clinched the series with a 6-0 two-hit shutout on Sunday, which was the team's first shutout of the season and second two-hitter.
State is searching for its seventh-consecutive midweek win and will send junior right-hander Noah Sullivan to the mound. Sullivan is making his fifth-straight midweek start and sports a flawless ERA through 10 innings of work with eight strikeouts but has not factored into a decision.
UAB counters on the bump with southpaw Isaac Warrick making his second start. The redshirt sophomore sports a 2-0 record and a 3.63 ERA with 11 walks and 11 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings this spring.
State leads the all-time series 37-10 against the Blazers and has won the past five meetings. The Bulldogs beat UAB 7-3 in Birmingham the last time the two teams met on April 11, 2023.
Mississippi State is batting .301 with 50 home runs and scoring 7.2 runs per game. Chris Lemonis' club has also swiped 33 bases in 38 attempts and fields at a .968 clip.
In addition to his mound duties, Sullivan is also the Diamond Dawgs' top bat with a .355 average, 38 hits and a .489 on-base percentage. Sophomore third baseman Ace Reese leads MSU with 11 long balls and three multi-homer games in addition to ranking eighth in the SEC with 39 RBIs. Junior catcher Ross Highfill continues to be the Bulldogs' base thief with nine steals in 11 tries.
On the mound, State sits third nationally averaging 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings and a 3.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Diamond Dawg hurlers also allow the fourth-fewest hits per nine innings in the country at 6.88.
Mississippi State's pitching staff has a collective 3.84 ERA with 367 strikeouts and 105 walks in 267 innings. They have limited opponents to just a .208 batting average against them in 2025.
Junior Pico Kohn tops the team with 67 strikeouts while Gavin Black and Cade O'Leary join Sullivan with perfect ERAs on the year. Stone Simmons, Chase Hungate and Luke Dotson are locked in a three-way tie and have accounted for six of the Bulldogs' seven saves.
UAB comes into Tuesday's affair at 18-14 and salvaged the final game of its series against UTSA at home on Saturday 13-6. The Blazers beat then 16th-ranked and SEC foe Auburn 4-2 on the road last Tuesday.
UAB is hitting .253 as a team with 20 homers and plating 6.2 runs per game on average. The Blazers have stolen 46 bases in 53 attempts, have a fielding percentage of .976 and lead the country with 34 double plays turned.
Todd Clay tops UAB offensively batting .364 EITH 33 RBIs while Camden Hayslip is the team's leading power threat with six home runs. Logan Braunschweig has stolen 17 bases and only been thrown out once to lead the Blazers in steals.
UAB's hurlers hold a 5.63 ERA with 236 strikeouts and 128 walks in 273 1/3 innings on the year. Teams have hit .286 with 38 home runs against them.
Former Bulldog Cole Cheatham tops UAB with 44 strikeouts while Brooks House is the lone Blazer with an unscathed ERA. Ryan Olson has collected five of UAB's 12 saves on the season.
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