No. 4 Texas Hosting No. 10 Mississippi State in Massive SEC Showdown

There is no such thing as an easy weekend in the SEC. Every team must endure a grinder of a 30-game conference gauntlet against the best competition in college baseball. For the No. 4 Texas Longhorns (33—9, 13—7), that trend continues this weekend.

Next up on the docket is a date with the No. 10 Mississippi State Bulldogs (35—10,13—8). Fortunately for the Longhorns, they'll be facing the Bulldogs at home, where they sport a sparkling 23—3 record this season.

Texas comes into this one having won each of its last two conference weekends against No. 24 Alabama and Vanderbilt in similar fashion. The openers saw them blowout both the Crimson Tide and Commodores, followed by low-scoring affairs in which the offense struggled to produce.

How do the Bulldogs and Longhorns stack up?

As for the Bulldogs, they are scorching hot. They've swept each of their last two weekends in conference play to vault into sole possession of fourth in the standings. A series win over the Longhorns would move them up again, while Texas would tumble down and likely out of the conference title picture.

Texas Longhorns second baseman Ethan Mendoza celebrates after scoring against the Texas State Bobcats. | University of Texas Athletics

How to watch/listen -

Friday May 1 - 6:30 p.m. CT - SEC Network+/TexasSports.com/Audio

Saturday May 2 - 2:30 p.m. CT - SEC Network+/TexasSports.com/Audio

Sunday May 3 - 1 p.m. CT - ESPN/TexasSports.com/Audio

A look at Mississippi State's season so far -

Prior to the season, the Bulldogs were considered one of the favorites to come out and win the SEC. While they did struggle at times early, they've hit a groove in recent weeks and come into their series against the Longhorns having won nine straight games with a pair of conference sweeps in the mix.

Mississippi State by the numbers -

Record: 35—10 (13—8)

Runs scored: 387

Runs allowed: 178

Team Avg.: .314

Opponent Avg.: .225

Team ERA: 3.61

Opponent ERA: 8.48

Mississippi State wins this series if...

It can jump on Texas' starting rotation and get into the bullpen as early as possible. When the trio of Dylan Volantis, Ruger Riojas and Luke Harrison are dialed in, they are arguably the best trio of arms in the SEC. However, both Riojas and Harrison have shown they can be rattled early.

Especially Riojas, who has struggled in three of his last four conference outings. This is exactly what the Bulldogs need to have happen if they want to leave Austin with a series win in tow. Once Texas gets into the bullpen, it becomes a mixed bag of results as inconsistent production has been the theme for its relief arms all season long.

If Mississippi State can get the bats going early and get into the bullpen, then there's a strong chance it continues its recent stretch of strong play against conference opponents.

Texas wins this series if...

It can consistently produce strong at-bats and not struggle with consistency like it did against both No. 24 Alabama and Vanderbilt. In both openers against the Crimson Tide and Commodores, the Longhorns combined to score 21 runs on 30 hits. The other four games were not as good.

Those other four contests saw them tally a combined eight runs on only 22 hits. And two of them were losses, including a 6-0 shutout against Vanderbilt. When the offense is firing on all cylinders, as it was in each opener, this Texas team has proven it can beat even the best pitching staffs.

However, if they cannot do that consistently throughout these three games against the Bulldogs, then they'll be looking at a long weekend and a high chance at suffering a series loss.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google