Tracking the Dawgs: Mississippi State prepares for Evansville on a win streak
Mississippi State Baseball has won its last six games on the 2024 season going back to its rubber match contest with Georgia Southern. Now, with another mid-major headed to Starkville, the Bulldogs have a viable chance at nine straight.
Evansville (7-5) will travel to Starkville to face off against Mississippi State (9-4) this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting, in a three game series. Mississippi State will keep the same starting pitcher rotation of Nate Dohm, Khal Stephen and Jurrangelo Cijntje. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m., Saturday’s for 4 p.m. and Sunday’s for 1 p.m. All games will be broadcasted on the SEC Network+.
Evansville Pitching vs. Mississippi State hitting
Shades of 2023 Mississippi State, Evansville’s starters have been getting barreled up pretty consistently, for lack of a better term. Kevin Reed boasts the best ERA of any pitcher with multiple starts at 6.43. After him, Nick Smith follows with 8.71. Then there’s Donavan Schultz with 10.95.
Out of the pen, though, the Aces get much better. Ethan Bell and Kenton Deverman have both pitched over eight innings on the young season, and both have a plenty respectable ERA with 1.04 and 2.55, respectively.
Middle relievers as a whole appear to have been tagged pretty well, too, for Evansville. The Mississippi State offense is still lacking some of the power that even last year’s lineup had, and it desperately needs to find it before SEC play starts. This weekend needs to serve as a chance to do just that.
Bulldog Pitching vs. Aces Hitting
Sure, the Aces have struggled on the mound, but one thing the visiting squad hasn’t struggled with is squaring up the baseball. OF Mark Shallenberger is hitting a staggering .447 so far with 21 hits in 47 at bats. He’s not nickel and diming, either. He’s got five doubles and three homers to boot. He’s also on base 58% of the time – a tough out to say the least – and he’s not the only one.
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Infielders Simon Scherry and Cal McGinnis can both swing it themselves and are hitting over .400 right now. The offense was first in hits (152) and second in doubles (41) across the entirety of division one baseball as of March 4, and is averaging over 10 runs per game.
The obvious argument here is that the Aces haven’t been facing SEC caliber pitching, but neither has Mississippi State, and the Bulldogs are nowhere close to those numbers. MSU has played one more game than the Aces as well. Maybe there’s truth to that argument, but nobody better tell Evansville that. They’re one of if not the hottest team in college baseball at the plate right now, and will more than likely be looking to take that offensive firepower on the bus with them this weekend.
When people refer to all mid-majors as “regional caliber teams,” it often comes from a place of not wanting to offend or prop up a team’s own image. That’s not the case with the Aces. If they can figure their pitching out, they have the offense to make late-season noise in someone else’s ball park. Bulldog fans just best hope that it doesn’t happen this weekend, and that the Bulldogs can stay hot.
Prediction
Mississippi State takes Friday night’s game (the first true home night game of the season), loses Saturday to snap the win streak and wins the rubber match on a Cijntje masterclass. 2-1, Bulldogs.
