Diamond Dawgs staying with same weekend starters with No. 11 Texas coming to town
Ahead of the first SEC weekend of the year, Mississippi State is set to role with its same starting rotation as last week.
No. 11 Texas is coming to Starkville for a three-game set this weekend and the Diamond Dawgs announced the rotation on Thursday. LHP Pico Kohn (3-0, 2.28 ERA) is set to start game one of the series on Friday night with RHP Ben Davis (1-1, 2.16 ERA) pitching on Saturday and RHP Karson Ligon (2-1, 3.21 ERA) on Sunday.
It was a successful three-game set for the trio of starters last week as they all garnered wins. Going into the Manhattan series, Lemonis and pitching coach Justin Parker moved Davis into the rotation from the bullpen and Ligon moved to Sunday as Stone Simmons moved out to the bullpen.
Davis entered the rotation last week and was lights out against Manhattan. The former Itawamba Community College hurler threw 6.0 innings, gave up just one hit, one run and two walks and struck out four batters. Ligon followed with arguably his best start as a Bulldog with his 5.0 shutout frames with just two hits and two walks surrendered while striking out a season-high nine batters.
Kohn enters the first SEC weekend with a 3-0 record and 2.28 ERA. He’s struck out 37 batters and walked just four in 23.2 innings.
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“It can always be a work in progress depending on who we’re playing and how you match up,” head coach Chris Lemonis said about his rotation. “I think one of the strengths of our team is our bullpen. We might see a guy open a game and give it to the bullpen. But I feel comfortable with where we’re at.”
State heads into the weekend having won the last six games. The Bulldogs (13-4) had a 1-3 week with losses to Troy at home and then Arizona and Oklahoma State in Houston two weeks ago. Since that time, State has reeled off the winning streak by scoring nine or more runs in all but one game.
It was a 2-0 week during the midweek as the Bulldogs beat Old Dominion 9-4 and Nicholls 2-1 in Biloxi. Now, however, the road gets tougher.
The No. 11 Texas Longhorns (14-1) come to Starkville for the first time in program history and are carrying have won 14-straight games since losing the season opener. Weather is likely to play a factor in the series, but it is scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. The finale of the series can be seen on SEC Network.
