The Mississippi State baseball team welcomes the Ole Miss Rebels to Dudy Noble Field in a pivotal early SEC series for both teams.
It’s still early in the SEC baseball season, but the upcoming series between the Mississippi State baseball team and the Ole Miss Rebels could have a significant impact on how both teams seasons play out. Plus, it’s Egg Bowl baseball so it will be big regardless of when it is played.
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For the first time in years, the two clubs will face off with the Bulldogs being the better hitting team and the Rebels being the better pitching team. Normally when the in-state rivals square off, it is the other way around.
The Bulldogs have the fourth highest batting average in the conference and are hitting a little over .300 on the season. The Rebels are 11th in batting average and are hitting right around the .280 mark on the season. Much of the improvement for MSU has been attributed to Mississippi State baseball coach John Cohen being more consistent with his lineup.
When it comes to power, both teams are pretty similar when it comes to hitting the ball out of the ballpark. The Bulldogs have 17 home runs while the Rebels have 20. But when it comes to overall extra base hits, give the advantage to the Mississippi State Baseball team. The Bulldogs have almost 90 extra base hits and a slugging percentage over .450 compared to the Rebels who have right around 70 extra base hits, but also have a slugging percentage in the .450 range.
When it comes to pitching, the two teams couldn’t be any more different. The Mississippi State baseball team will rely on the strength of their Friday Night and Saturday starters Dakota Hudson and Austin Sexton and hope the bullpen can keep the team close when they come out of the game and on Sunday. The Ole Miss baseball team often has to go to a solid bullpen since neither starters Brady Bramlett and Chad Smith average more than six innings pitched in their six starts of the season.
Bulldog players to watch
Here are some of the players to keep an eye on this weekend for the Mississippi State baseball team.
- Jacob Robson – OF
- Reid Humphreys – OF
- Jack Kruger – DH
- Elih Marrero – C
- Dakota Hudson – SP
- Ausitn Sexton – SP
- Zac Houston – RP
The Bulldogs have been much more offensive than they have ever been in recent memory and it all starts with lead-off hitter Jacob Robson. Robson has an on base percentage close to .500. Add in the fact Robson has stolen 10 bases on 12 attempts, and when he is on base, he is almost always a threat to score which is evident by the 27 times he has crossed home plate.
The biggest beneficiary of having Robson on base has been Jack Kruger. Kruger has consistently batted second in the lineup, though John Cohen has experimented with moving him down in the cleanup spot recently. Kruger is tied for the team lead in RBIs with 23.
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Reid Humphreys might be the hottest hitter on the Mississippi State baseball team. Last week, Humphreys hit .375 with two home runs, three doubles, and drove in six runs for the Bulldogs.
Elih Marrero has been swinging a hot bat as well. Marrero hit .667 for the Bulldogs last week with an on base percentage of .750. Marrero also tacked on a double and drove in two runs.
But if the Bulldogs want to win the series, then Dakota Hudson and Austin Sexton will have to continue to pitch the way they have the last three weekends. Hudson has an ERA of 0.85 in his last three starts and struck out 22 hitters in 21.2 innings pitched. He’ll need to have command of his best stuff as he can occasionally walk a lot of hitters as he did against Oregon and only pitched 5.2 innings.
Austin Sexton has been steady. He hasn’t been dominant in his last three starts for the Mississippi State baseball team, but he’s given the team a chance to win and you can’t ask for much more than that. Sexton has a 2.50 ERA in his previous three starts and struck out 25 in 18 innings of work. Like Hudson, Sexton will need to keep the walks down and get through the sixth or seventh inning.
Zac Houston could be a surprise player to watch. The Bulldogs have gotten very little from their Sunday starter and very little from the Bullpen when they have had to turn to it on Sundays. Houston has the stuff to be a dominant pitcher, he has just lacked consistency. Houston has a 2.63 ERA in 13.2 innings and 18 strikeouts. The problem is, he has also walked 10 hitters. If he can get his command right, he would be a great choice to start on Sundays.
Prediction
The two teams are supposed to be pretty close according to the polls. There are so many different polls out there for college baseball, Red Cup Rebellion has compiled a composite poll ranking. When the polls are averaged out, the Mississippi State baseball team comes in 10th while the Ole Miss Baseball team comes in 13th.
A series victory or sweep for the Bulldogs would get the team off to a great start for the toughest part of their schedule. Winning the series or sweeping would help erase the memory of a dreadful series against South Carolina for the Rebels.
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I think the key comes down to the Bulldogs having the superior starters on Friday and Saturday. Ole Miss struggled against solid starting pitching against South Carolina, and the Gamecocks hammered the Rebels pitching staff. MSU has a lineup very similar to that of the Gamecocks, so I think there could be a repeat of Friday and Saturday for Ole Miss. Mississippi State will put some runs on the board early against Bramlett and Smith while Hudson and Sexton keep the Rebel bats in check. Sunday could be a high scoring affair as neither team has gotten much from their starters on Sunday. The Rebels have the better bullpen so just like the first two weekends for the Mississippi State baseball team, they go down on Sunday.
I’ll take the Bulldogs to win the series two games to one. Mississippi State keeps things rolling with the top ranked Aggies coming to Starkville the following weekend while the Rebels continue to try to figure things out in SEC play.