What to know as Mississippi State hosts Kent State

It's said that you never know what you'll see when you show up to the ballpark to watch a baseball game. Well in the case of this week, sometimes you don't even know until the last moment who you'll see play.

No. 3 Mississippi State begins a three-game weekend series with Kent State Friday night at Dudy Noble Field. It's a set that wasn't even scheduled until this past Wednesday.

The Bulldogs were slated to play Tennessee Tech this weekend, however that couldn't happen as the Golden Eagles had to cancel due to COVID-19 issues within their program. Likewise, Kent State was supposed to go to West Virginia, but the Mountaineers couldn't play due to coronavirus-related matters. With MSU and Kent State both faced with sudden openings on their schedules, the impromptu meet-up in Starkville was set.

So what do you need to know as the Bulldogs and Golden Flashes get set to face off? Let's take a look.

Game times

Friday, March 5 - 6 p.m. central
Saturday, March 6 - 2 p.m. central
Sunday, March 7 - noon central

Where to watch/listen

If you're not inside Dudy Noble Field this weekend, you can still watch the action via streming it on SEC Network+.

On the radio, you can listen to Friday and Sunday's games courtesy of the MSU Baseball Radio Network. You can find your affiliate by CLICKING HERE. You should note that Saturday's game is a local-only radio broadcast as MSU basketball's game at Auburn will be carried across the Mississippi State radio network. In Starkville only though, the Saturday baseball game will be carried by WLZA-FM (96.1).

No matter where you are, you can access audio of all the games via TuneIn.com or the TuneIn app. Fans can simply search "Mississippi State" 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 starting on the mound?

Friday: MSU LHP Christian Macleod (0-1, 1.12 ERA) vs. Kent State RHP Luke Albright (1-1, 2.70 ERA)

Saturday: MSU RHP Eric Cerantola (0-0, 11.57 ERA) vs. Kent State LHP Collin Romel (0-1, 7.71 ERA)

Sunday: MSU RHP Jackson Fristoe (0-0, 2.57 ERA) vs. Kent State RHP Ryan Lane (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Up to this point

No. 3 Mississippi State enters this weekend's series sporting a 6-2 overall record. The Bulldogs have won three games in a row, most recently defeating instate rival Southern Miss 4-1 this past Wednesday. Prior to that, MSU won Saturday and Sunday games against Tulane last weekend in walk-off fashion after dropping the series opener. That followed an opening week to the season that saw State go 3-1 with wins over Texas, Texas Tech and Jackson State and a one-run loss to TCU.

Kent State comes to Starkville at 3-2 for the season. The Golden Flashes played and lost two games to Virginia Tech on opening weekend, then last weekend, ironically swept a three-game series from the same Tennessee Tech team they're now replacing in Starkville.

On the mound

Kent State's pitching staff has been strong through five games. The Flashes have a team earned run average of 3.29 and opponents are hitting just .194 against Kent State arms.

The Flashes were particularly good in their three-game sweep of Tennessee Tech last weekend. Kent State allowed just three earned runs across the three games and struck out a collective 36 batters. This Friday's starter Luke Albright set the tone last weekend with five innings of one-run, 10 strikeout ball in the series opener, picking up his first win of the season. This Saturday's starter, Collin Romel, came out of the bullpen last weekend and struck out nine over four innings to earn a save. This Sunday's starter, Ryan Lane, hasn't allowed an earned run over eight innings of work this season. He has struck out eight and opponents have hit only .148 against him.

As for Mississippi State, the Bulldog hurlers are also off to a great start in 2021. MSU has a team ERA of 3.00 coming into this weekend with opponents hitting only .202.

Perhaps MSU's pitching staff's greatest strength is its ability to miss bats. The staff ranks No. 3 nationally and No. 2 in the Southeastern Conference in strikeouts per nine innings (13.9) and have fanned 10-plus batters in six of eight games this season. And it seems like most every arm State runs out there can punch anyone out. Twenty-one Bulldog pitchers have combined for 111 strikeouts in eight games, including 41 on the opening weekend of the season and 43 last weekend against Tulane. The 43 strikeouts in a three-game series are tied for the most since at least 2005.

At the plate

The Golden Flashes are hitting .291 as a team and have several hitters that have been blistering hot to start the season. Ben Carew is hitting .526 (10-for-19) to start the year. He has hit safely in all five games this season and has four-straight multi-hit games heading into the weekend. Justin Miknis and Collin Matthews also have hit safely in every game this season. Miknis boasts a .368 average while Matthews is hitting at a .400 clip.

In the power department, Kent State has hit three total home runs over its five games. No one has more than one.

Something that bears monitoring over the weekend is how aggressive the Flashes are on the bases. Kent State has stolen 11 bases in five games and ranks No. 16 nationally with 2.2 stolen bases per game.

Mississippi State hasn't been a juggernaut offensively this season by any means – hitting .267 as a club – but some of that can be attributed to the caliber of arms MSU has seen so far.

Still, the Bulldogs have four regulars hitting .286 or higher – Tanner Allen (.367), Luke Hancock (.333), Landon Jordan (.292) and Logan Tanner (.286). Of MSU's eight players that are regularly in the starting lineup (Rowdey Jordan, Scotty Dubrule, Allen, Tanner, Josh Hatcher, Hancock, Kamren James, Landon Jordan), six are hitting at least .257. The lone exceptions are the struggling Hatcher and Rowdey Jordan. Hatcher is batting .219 while Rowdey Jordan is off to an incredibly slow start at .167.

Hancock and James have been providing the majority of the pop at the plate for the Bulldogs this season. Those two sit at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively on the team in slugging percentage among lineup regulars. Hancock and James are tied for the team lead with three home runs apiece.

Keep up courtesy of Cowbell Corner

Cowbell Corner is providing live play-by-play updates of select games this season, including the MSU-Kent State showdowns on Friday and Saturday. So if you're unable to watch or listen, or are just looking for a place to keep up with the game in a simple format, check back right here on the site around game time. Then click on the LIVE BASEBALL UPDATES story at the top of the home page. Once on the updates page, you can come back frequently or refresh your browser for the latest on what's happening at Dudy Noble Field.

Thank you for coming to Cowbell Corner for coverage of Mississippi State sports. Be sure to follow Cowbell Corner on Twitter (@SIBulldogs) by clicking here, and like it on Facebook by clicking here.