Mississippi State Baseball Forecast: Last Chance

It’s finally the last weekend of the season, and I believe I can speak for everyone when I say that we are ready for this nightmare of a season to end. Our Diamond Dawgs head to Knoxville, TN to face off against the Tennessee Volunteers. Here’s our situation, pretty much: If Arkansas sweeps Georgia this weekend, then the Bulldogs only need to win the series against Tennessee to make the SEC Tournament. If Georgia takes a game against Arkansas, then the Bulldogs will have to sweep Tennessee on the road to make the trip to Hoover. Needless to say, it’s going to be a weekend of scoreboard watching for the Bulldogs and fans.

Now to the reason why we’re here, the weather in Knoxville. Most of us would love some beautiful weather as we watch our Bulldogs play the Volunteers. But, we need all the help we can get this weekend to make the SEC Tournament in Hoover, so let’s see what we can get in our favor. Anything that will keep the ball from leaving the yard will help.

Now as you can see, the stadium is oriented just a little bit differently than others within the Southeastern Conference. Everything is facing the relative wrong way. So if we have a Northerly component to winds, the ball will be helped in leaving the yard. Now this is oriented very differently than Dudy Noble Field, so give the advantage to Tennessee there.

Luckily for us, the winds won’t be helping Tennessee at all this weekend. Winds are expected to keep a Southerly component all series, so we might just keep ourselves from balls leaving the yard too much. But that doesn’t mean we can hang curves up in the zone, and expect not to get burned on it.

Numbers you want to know

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Pre-game warmups (4:00 PM CDT): 80 °F, partly cloudy, winds from the SW around 5 mph

First pitch on SEC Network + (5:00 PM CDT): 79 °F, partly cloudy, winds from the SSW around 5 mph

Top of the 5th inning (6:15 PM CDT): 77 °F, increasing clouds, winds from the SSW around 5 mph

Wrapping Game 1 in Maroon and White (7:00 PM CDT): 76 °F, mostly cloudy, winds from the SSW below 5 mph

Friday, May 15, 2015

Pre-game warmups (4:00 PM CDT): 82 °F, mostly cloudy, winds from the SW between 10-15 mph, chance of rain 30%

First pitch (5:00 PM CDT): 80 °F, mostly cloudy, winds from the SW between 5-10 mph, chance of rain 30%

Top of the 5th inning (6:15 PM CDT): 78 °F, mostly cloudy, winds form the SW between 5-10 mph, chance of rain 20%

Wrapping Game 2 in Maroon and White (7:00 PM CDT): 77 °F, mostly cloudy, winds from the SW around 5 mph, chance of rain 20%

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Pre-game warmups (11:00 AM CDT): 76 °F, mostly cloudy, winds from the SW between 5-10 mph, chance of rain 30%

First pitch on SEC Network (12:00 PM CDT): 78 °F, mostly cloudy, winds from the SW between 5-10 mph, chance of rain 30%

Top of the 5th inning (1:15 PM CDT): 79 °F, mostly cloudy, winds from the SW between 5-10 mph, chance of rain 30%

Wrapping the series in Maroon and White (2:00 PM CDT): 80 °F, mostly cloudy, winds from the SW between 5-10 mph, chance of rain 30%