College baseball is about as important in Mississippi as eating and breathing with three of the best programs in the country all residing within its borders.
This weekend Oxford will host a three game series rivaling in importance any in the country for the entire season – No. 18 Ole Miss and No. 6 Mississippi State. The Bulldogs (21-4, 4-2 SEC) are coming off a 12-0 shutout of Southern Miss in Hattiesburg and probably feel damn bulletproof right now. The Rebels (19-7, 3-3 SEC) just got a kick in the collective
nuts on Tuesday when it lost on the road to a sub .500 Memphis team.
The intersection at which these two teams meet is important as the finale of this series marks approximately one third of the conference schedule. Whether you are 4-5 or 5-4 after this weekend isn’t a vast difference, but the Rebels have been in a spot where it is 3-6 and know how difficult it is to dig out of that kind of hole.
So Friday is one of the more important games of the season, and with Hunter Elliott showing his best form of late, it should be an instant classic.
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
- Friday, 6:30 p.m.: LHP Hunter Elliott (3-0, 3.48 ERA) vs. LHP Charlie Foster (0-0, 5.11 ERA)
- Saturday, 1: 30 p.m.: TBA vs. LHP Tomas Valincius (5-0, 1.04 ERA)
- Sunday, 3 p.m.: TBA vs. RHP Duke Stone (4-0, 4.10 ERA)
So some injury related impacts with the projected starting pitchers as MSU will not be throwing Ryan McPherson due to some forearm soreness, and right now it looks like Cade Townsend will likely be on the shelf for Ole Miss. That’s two really good arms for each squad out of commission, which is a shame no matter the rivalry hate to see it.
Charlie Foster will take the bump for MSU who has mostly worked short stints this season as a sophomore from the Atlanta area. If he goes more than a few innings, it is a bad start to this series for the Rebels. Elliott needs to command this game from the first pitch and get Friday in the books for Ole Miss.
With TBA slotted for Ole Miss on Saturday and Sunday, maybe Mike Bianco is using like a Magic 8 ball or throwing darts at the roster to decide how this series will shake out. A win Friday would change the dynamic of the series with Tomas Valincius starting on Saturday. The Virginia transfer has been damn near unhittable going seven shutout innings at Arkansas two weeks ago and throwing 7 IP and two earned runs against Vanderbilt last week.
Sunday is the finale with Duke Stone starting for MSU out of Georgia as well. The 6’5” righthander has been fairly solid for the Bulldogs, but if the series is on the line, Ole Miss has to chase him before the fourth and get some of those Kentucky double digit scoring vibes going.
MSU comes into the series with the SEC leader in batting average with Bryce Chance (.452) and Noah Sullivan (.386) at seventh in the conference. Ole Miss slugger Tristan Bissetta currently sits at ninth in the SEC with a .384 average, second in the SEC in home runs (14) and second in RBI (38).
But let’s cut to the chase. Go to hell State. Win the series and let’s get this thing rolling.
