Mississippi State made a major statement on the final weekend of the regular season by sweeping top-ranked Florida.
Now the Bulldogs are looking to build on that momentum as they head to the Southeastern Conference Tournament and beyond.
“I think we put a lot together this weekend, it’s exciting to see that going into the postseason,” said MSU pitcher Cole Gordon. “We’re seeing hitters start to take better swings and getting big hits in big situations. The bullpen is coming in, filling up the zone and throwing strikes. It’s not just one or two guys, it’s the whole bullpen.”
MSU (31-24) is the No. 9 seed in the SEC Tournament and takes on eighth-seeded LSU (33-23) today at 4:30 p.m. on the SEC Network. The winner will meet SEC champion Florida in the second round on Wednesday, while the loser is eliminated.
The expected starters today are MSU’s Konnor Pilkington (2-6, 4.30 ERA) against LSU’s Nick Bush (1-1, 3.11 ERA).
The Tigers took two of three from the Diamond Dogs in Baton Rogue.
during late March. Mississippi State leads the overall LSU series 212-181 and is 9-8 against the Tigers in the SEC Tournament.
“We have always played very well in the SEC Tournament, and our team is looking forward to facing a Mississippi State club that is playing great baseball,” said LSU skipper Paul Mainieri. “The tournament is a special event, and any time LSU and Mississippi State meet in a baseball game, there’s going to be a tremendous environment.”
The Tigers lost two of three at Auburn to close out the regular season last weekend.
MSU enters the postseason on a four-game winning streak and has won seven of its last 10. Over that stretch, the Diamond Dogs are hitting .298 with 35 extra-base hits, 10 homers and averaging 8.8 runs per game.
“I think we’re playing some of our best baseball of the year, certainly our most competitive,” said MSU interim head coach Gary Henderson. “We just won three games from the No. 1 team in the country and I think you have to be pretty pleased with where we are.”
Mississippi State does have several players banged up coming into postseason play. Freshman third baseman Jordan Westburg will be “out for the foreseeable future” according to Henderson with a hamstring injury.
