Kentucky Baseball Opens Conference Play Against Mississippi State

After passing through the non-conference slate in stride with a 15-2 record, Kentucky baseball will open SEC play Friday night against Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs, which won the National Championship just two years ago, will travel to Lexington sporting a 13-5 record. Mississippi State will be making its first trip to Lexington since 2018, and it will be the first matchup between these two teams since Miss. State’s championship season. The Bulldogs have won four straight games against the Wildcats.

Kentucky enters Friday’s night matchup against the Bulldogs on an 11-game winning streak, the longest under coach Nick Mingione. The Bat ‘Cats have momentum on their side, as they come off two consecutive run-rule victories over Southern Illinois and Indiana. The Kentucky offense has scored 33 runs over its last 14 innings of action.

Mississippi State has had an interesting non-conference slate. The Bulldogs dropped games to VMI, Louisiana-Monroe and Arizona State all at home, and went 1-2 in the Frisco College Baseball Classic (win over California, losses to Ohio State and Oklahoma). But the Diamond Dogs are entering Friday night’s matchup on a seven-game win streak after an undefeated showing in the Hancock Whitney Classic (wins over Nicholls and Louisiana).

When first pitch commences on Friday night, it will be the 107th all-time meeting between these two programs. Mississippi State leads the all-time series 65-41. Notable MSU baseball alumni include 6x All-Star and 1989 NLCS MVP Will Clark, 2x Silver Slugger Rafael Palmeiro, and 2007 Delivery Man of the Year Jonathan Papelbon.

Mississippi State Impact Players

The Bulldogs’ lineup may just feature one of the best catchers in all of college baseball. Graduate student Luke Hancock was named to the 2023 Buster Posey award watch list on March 3rd, awarded to the best catcher in collegiate baseball. Hancock is batting .321 with 18 hits and 16 RBI. Joining Hancock in the Diamond Dawg lineup is junior Amani Larry. Larry, who is batting .367 this season, ranks 11th in career batting average (.369) among active D-1 players. He ranks fourth in career on-base percentage (.491). Sophomore Hunter Hines has smashed eight home runs this season, tied for 13th in the nation. The Bulldogs love to hit, batting .304 as a team. Freshman Bryce Chance is the team leader with a .379 average.

Switch-pitching phenomenon Jurrangelo Cijntje will make the start on Friday night for the Bulldogs. The freshman has been outstanding this season, sporting a 0.60 average in 15 innings pitched. Cijntje has struck out 20 of the 44 batters he’s faced, allowing just five hits and one earned run. The Wildcats’ lineup will have its work cut out for them on Friday. The Bulldog pitching staff has struck out 205 batters this season, good for sixth in the nation.

Kentucky Impact Players

Over the past week of play, graduate student Hunter Gilliam has been one of the hottest players in the entire nation. Since last Friday’s matchup with Southern Illinois, Gilliam has notched 11 hits and 14 RBI in four games of play. For his efforts, he was named Co-SEC and Co-Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Player of the Week last week. Gilly has knocked three hits in all three of his last trio of games. Sophomore Émilien Pitre and redshirt sophomore Devin Burkes have made up a dynamic trio with Gilliam in the Wildcat lineup. These three have combined for 77 hits and 65 RBI this season. They are the heart of the Kentucky lineup.

In games where the offense hasn’t quite been there this season, the Wildcat pitching staff has been very reliable for Mingione and co. The staff allows just 6.28 hits per-nine inning, which is the fifth-best ratio in the country. Seventh-year slinger Darren Williams will make his second start of the season on Friday night, sporting a 1.06 ERA with 17 strikeouts and just two runs allowed in 17 innings of action. Senior Zack Lee, who has been arguably Kentucky’s best starter this season, will start on Sunday. In four games started this season, Lee has struck out 23 batters and allowed just five earned runs.

The Wildcats will be looking to start SEC play with a win for the first time since 2021.

Game 1: Friday, March 17th, 2023 (Kentucky Proud Park – 4:00 PM)
UK: RHP Darren Williams (1-0, 1.06 ERA, 17.0 IP) vs MSST: BHP Jurrangelo Cijntje (3-0, 0.60 ERA, 15.0 IP)
Game 2: Saturday, March 18th, 2023 (Kentucky Proud Park – 1:00 PM)
UK: LHP Tyler Bosma (3-1, 4.34 ERA, 18.2 IP) vs MSST: RHP Landon Gartman (1-0, 4.95 ERA, 20.0 IP)
Game 3: Sunday, March 19th, 2023 (Kentucky Proud Park – 2:00 PM)
UK: RHP Zack Lee (3-0, 1.18 ERA, 21.0 IP) vs MSST: LHP Graham Yntema (1-1, 5.87 ERA, 15.1 IP)