Gators travel to Starkville to take on defending National Champions
The Florida Gators are in Starkville to take on the defending National Champion Mississippi State Bulldogs. This is the first trip to Dudy Noble Field — the biggest college baseball stadium in the country — since 2018.
The Gators (26-18, 8-13 SEC) and Bulldogs (25-20, 9-12 SEC) last met at the 2021 SEC Tournament in Hoover, with Florida mercy-ruling Mississippi State with a 13-1 victory in seven innings. Florida has won two-straight matchups in the series, outscoring the Bulldogs, 17-3, in that span.
Across the all-time series, Florida sports a 67-51 lead including a 27-25 mark in Starkville. The Gators are 20-12 against Mississippi State under Kevin O’Sullivan, including a 6-6 mark on the road.
This isn’t the same team that dogpiled in Omaha last season. The Bulldogs are coming into this weekend’s series in a similar place as the Gators. AT 9-12, the Bulldogs and Gators both need a series win this weekend as they try to make the NCAA Tournament.
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How the Gators can make the NCAA Tournament
Florida comes into this series with an 8-13 SEC record. The Gators have the No. 20 RPI in the country. The Gators need to get to at least 13 SEC wins to ensure they make the Tournament. That means they need 5 more wins in the last 9 games. Finishing the SEC schedule at 5-4 is very doable for the Gators. Florida would be well on its way to that number with a road series win. It’s not easy winning on the road in the SEC but six of the Gators’ next nine conference games will be on the road.
How to watch, team, listen to Florida vs Mississippi State
The Gators and Bulldogs will be featured on the ESPN Family of Networks this weekend. Friday’s game is on SEC Network. Saturday
| Friday (8:00 pm) SEC Network | Saturday (7:30 pm) ESPNU | Sunday (2:00 pm ET) SECN+ |
| STREAM | STREAM | STREAM |
| LISTEN | LISTEN | LISTEN |
| STATS | STATS | STATS |
Projected Pitching Matchups
| Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
| Florida | RHP Brandon Sproat (5-4, 4.39 ERA) | Brandon Neely (2-0, 3.35 ERA) | TBD |
| Mississippi State | RHP Brandon Smith (3-3, 3.75 ERA) | RHP Preston Johnson (3-3, 5.52 ERA) | RHP Cade Smith (4-2, 4.20 ERA) |
Projected lineups
| C | BT Riopelle | Logan Tanner |
| 1B | Kendrick Calilao | Luke Hancock |
| 2B | Colby Halter | RJ Yeager |
| 3B | Deric Fabian | Kamren James |
| SS | Josh Rivera | Lane Forsythe |
| LF | Wyatt Langford | Brad Cumbest |
| CF | Jud Fabian | Drew McGowan |
| RF | Sterlin Thompson | Kellum Clark |
| DH | Jac Caglianone | Hunter Hines |
