What to know as Mississippi State faces Auburn
Mississippi State is riding high headed into this weekend.
The No. 5 Bulldogs carry a four-game winning streak into Auburn for a three-game series, beginning Friday night. On the heels of a sweep of Kentucky last weekend, MSU will try to keep right on rolling down on the Plains.
So what do you need to know as State and Auburn get set to face off? Let's take a quick look.
Game times
- Friday, April 9 - 6 p.m. central
- Saturday, April 10 - 2 p.m. central
- Sunday, April 11 - 2 p.m. central
Where to watch/listen
You'll have several ways to watch all the action over the coming days. Only Sunday's 2 p.m. central game will be carried on regular television. It'll be on SEC Network. However all three games this weekend can be streamed online via SEC Network+.
On the radio, you can listen to all three games between the Bulldogs and Tigers via the MSU Baseball Radio Network. You can find your affiliate by CLICKING HERE.
No matter where you are, you can access audio of all the baseball games via TuneIn.com or the TuneIn app. Fans can simply search "Mississippi State baseball" on the TuneIn app. TuneIn is available for download on iOS and Android, plus more than 200 connected devices. Game audio can also be heard via Mississippi State's website HERE.
Who's scheduled to start on the mound?
Friday: MSU LHP Christian Macleod (3-2, 2.67 ERA) vs. Auburn RHP Cody Greenhill (3-0, 1.67 ERA)
Saturday: MSU RHP Will Bednar (1-0, 2.35 ERA) vs. Auburn LHP Jack Owen (0-1, 7.04 ERA)
Sunday: MSU RHP Jackson Fristoe (3-2, 3.34 ERA) vs. Auburn RHP Joseph Gonzalez (0-2, 4.87)
Up to this point
Mississippi State has been strong all season, save for a significant blip on the radar screen a couple of weeks back when the Bulldogs were swept at home by Arkansas.
Since losing to the Razorbacks three times though, MSU hasn't lost since. They took three games from Kentucky at Dudy Noble Field last weekend and blew out Southern University in a midweek game this past Tuesday. The Bulldogs now stand at 21-7 overall and 5-4 in Southeastern Conference play.
Auburn got off to a strong start this season, winning 11 of 16 non-conference games, but SEC play has been incredibly unkind to the Tigers. Auburn now stands at 12-13 overall and the team is just 1-8 in SEC action.
That SEC record could be a bit deceiving though. Seven of Auburn's eight league losses have come by two runs or less. Five of the defeats were one-run losses. So the Tigers might not have a ton of success to show for it, but they've been right there with opportunities to win in essentially every game.
On the mound
Auburn has the SEC's next-to-worst overall team ERA (4.72), but the Tigers' starting pitching has shown signs of being much better than that number might indicate.
Case in point – last weekend at Arkansas. The Tigers’ starting rotation turned in a combined 1.56 ERA and .127 batting average against against the No. 2 Razorbacks last weekend. Those same three starters that stifled Arkansas – Cody Greenhill, Jack Owen and Joseph Gonzalez – are scheduled to face the Bulldogs this weekend.
Mississippi State meanwhile has been incredibly strong up and down its pitching staff. The Bulldogs have the SEC's second-best team ERA (2.76). Opponents are hitting only .189 off of MSU arms.
As a club, Mississippi State has fanned 10-plus batters in seven straight games and has double-digit strikeouts in 23 of 28 games in 2021. There's no doubt that pitching is the foundation of this season's Bulldogs.
At the plate
Auburn has the ability to be incredibly dangerous offensively.
The Tigers enter the weekend second in the SEC in team batting average (.298). They're third in the league in team slugging percentage (.484).
Four Tiger regulars hit .333 or better (Tyler Miller, Ryan Bliss, Ranking Woley and Brody Moore). Miller and Bliss have been particularly good. Miller is leading the team in multiple offensive categories, including batting average (.376), home runs (nine) and RBI (35). Bliss is hitting .360 with seven homers.
Meanwhile it's the MSU offense that has been the most inconsistent part of the State team so far. The Bulldogs are eighth in the conference with a .272 team batting average. In SEC games only, MSU is 11th in the league in hitting, batting at just a .234 clip.
The good news for the Bulldogs is that a big piece of their early offensive struggles has been an early-season slump from top-of-the-order bat Rowdey Jordan. But Jordan's batting average has jumped 53 points over the last four games, all the way up to. .286. Jordan continuing to get on base in front of heart-of-the-lineup guys like Tanner Allen, Kamren James and Luke Hancock could be key to MSU's offensive success this weekend.
Mississippi State is hoping to continue its current winning streak on the road at Auburn this weekend. (Photo courtesy of Mississippi State athletics)
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