AUBURN, Ala. - Mississippi State is bound for The Plains as it prepares for a weekend series at No. 11 Auburn.
Friday and Saturday's games are both slated for 6 p.m. starts while Sunday's finale gets underway at 2 p.m. All three games will be streamed on SEC Network+.
The Diamond Dawgs found success the last time they took the field against the Tigers. MSU swept Auburn in Starkville last season, winning the opening game 8-1 before securing both games of a doubleheader 3-1 in seven innings and walking off with a 4-3 victory in eight innings.
The Bulldogs own a 119-96-1 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1908.
State will stick to its usual pitching rotation for the weekend. Junior left-hander Pico Kohn will start things off on the mound for the Bulldogs on Friday. Kohn is 4-1 with a 3.29 earned run average and sits fifth in the Southeastern Conference with 81 strikeouts in 54 2/3 innings.
Junior right-hander Evan Siary (0-1, 4.00 ERA, 33 K, 10 BB) is scheduled to start Saturday's game for Mississippi State while senior righty Karson Ligon (4-4, 5.63 ERA, 47 K, 14 BB) gets the nod on Sunday.
The Tigers plan to go with senior right-hander Samuel Dutton (5-2, 2.43 ERA, 64 K, 12 BB) on Friday and junior southpaw Cade Fisher (1-1, 4.71 ERA, 37 K, 19 BB) on Sunday. Auburn has not settled on its pitching plans for Sunday's finale.
The Diamond Dawgs (24-17, 6-12 SEC) dropped their home series with Florida last weekend and are coming off a heartbreaking 8-7 defeat to No. 23 Ole Miss in 10-innings in the Governor's Cup in Pearl on Tuesday.
MSU is batting .302 as a team with 66 home runs and scoring 7.4 runs per game. Chris Lemonis' club has also stolen 37 bases in 44 attempts and maintains a .970 fielding percentage.
Senior left fielder Gehrig Frei leads the Bulldogs with a .388 batting average while sophomore third baseman Ace Reese tops the team with 52 hits and is tied for eighth in the SEC in both homers (13) and RBIs (48). Sophomore catcher Ross Highfill remains the biggest threat on the bases with 10 steals in a dozen tries.
Senior first baseman Hunter Hines is third among active Division I players with 62 career homers and ranks second all-time in school history in that category, five behind Rafael Palmeiro (1983-85). Hines has also driven in 198 runs over the course of his career, one shy of matching Will Clark (1983-85) for eighth all-time at State.
The Bulldogs' pitching staff is still among the best in the NCAA. Mississippi State hurlers rank fourth in the country in strikeouts per nine innings (11.9), fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.38) and 10th in WHIP (1.24).
The Diamond Dawgs have collectively posted a 4.24 ERA with 456 strikeouts and 135 across 343 2/3 innings. Opposing teams are hitting just .225 against them.
Kohn leads MSU in punchouts while Cade O'Leary and Gavin Black both have flawless ERAs. Chase Hungate, Luke Dotson and Stone Simmons have each recorded a pair of saves and are tied for the team lead in that category.
Auburn comes into the weekend at 28-13 overall and 9-9 in conference play. The Tigers were swept at top-ranked Texas last weekend but bounced back with a 1-0 win against No. 24 Georgia Tech at Plainsman Park on Tuesday.
Offensively, Auburn is hitting .291 as a team with 52 long balls and generating 6.8 runs per game. The Tigers sport a .979 fielding percentage and has swiped 45 bases in 57 attempts.
Ike Irish paces Auburn with a .353 batting average, 11 home runs and is tied for the team lead in RBIs with Cooper McMurray with 36 apiece. McMurray is the club leader with 49 total hits while Bristol Carter has collected 12 steals in 14 chances.
Auburn head coach Butch Thompson, who spent seven seasons as State's pitching coach from 2009-15, has a pitching staff that features a 4.56 ERA with 396 strikeouts and 143 walks through 355 1/3 frames. Opponents are batting .237 against them with 35 home runs.
Dutton tops the Tigers in strikeouts while Mason Koch has a perfect ERA. Ryan Hetzler has recorded a team-best four saves.
Visitwww.HailState.comfor the latest news and information on the baseball program. Fans can also follow the program on social media by searching 'HailStateBB' onX,FacebookandInstagram.
