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Mississippi State Tournament Preview: South Alabama Jaguars

By Cooper Ashcraft

Feb 15, 2017; Mesa, AZ, USA; Detailed view of an official MLB baseball on the field during Chicago Cubs Spring Training workout at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 15, 2017; Mesa, AZ, USA; Detailed view of an official MLB baseball on the field during Chicago Cubs Spring Training workout at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mississippi State begins their Road to Omaha Friday evening in Hattiesburg against the South Alabama Jaguars. Cooper Ashcraft takes a look at the Jags.

Mississippi State was selected as the two seed in the Hattiesburg regional on Monday. The Bulldogs will face off against the three seed Jaguars of South Alabama Friday evening at 6:00 P.M.

The Diamond Dawgs are quite familiar with South Alabama this season: the two teams squared off against each other three times on the season. The first two match ups took place on March 10th and 12th, where Mississippi State took both games at home by a score of 2-0 and 8-6.

Konnor Pilkington got the start for Mississippi State in the first game of the series where he went 7.2 shutout innings, giving up just four hits and struck out thirteen. South Alabama’s Thomas Huston got the start on the mound where he went the distance, allowing two runs on six hits and struck out six.

Peyton Plumlee got the start in game two for Mississippi State where he went 5.1 innings, allowing just one run on five hits in a 8-6 victory. A trio of Barlow, Ashcraft, and Mangum gave up five runs in relief. The Bulldogs were able to tally eight runs on ten hits against the Jaguars pitching staff. Tyler Carr got the start for South Alabama where he went five innings, allowing two runs on four hits.

Mississippi State traveled to Mobile on April 18th for the final meeting between the two teams where South Alabama was able to win the game 5-2. This was a game in which Andy Cannizaro expressed his frustration with the effort on the field by pulling guys from the game. Guys like Trey Jolly, Trystan Barlow, Konnor Pilkington, and Spencer Price all got an opportunity to swing the bat and play in the field. On top of the changes in the field, Brant Blaylock got his first opportunity to pitch on the season. With all the changes in the lineups its hard to take the loss at face value, although it certainly gave South Alabama confidence that they can beat the Bulldogs.

Recapping South Alabama’s season

South Alabama finished the season with a 39-19 record and a 22-8 record in the Sun Belt. The Jaguars didn’t just do this against bad teams either. South finished the season 31st and 34th in non conference strength of schedule. South did struggle against teams ranked in the top 50 of the RPI though, going just 3-10 against those opponents.

South Alabama finished half a game back of Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt standings. The Jaguars would go onto dominate in the conference tournament, going 3-0 against Troy, Arkansas State, and Georgia Southern. South defeated Georgia Southern in the championship game by a score of 7-6.

Notable wins on the season include wins over Mississippi State, LSU, Auburn, and defending champions Coastal Carolina.

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By the numbers

ERA: 5.31

Batting Average: .270

Home Runs: 73

Stolen Bases: 64

Players to watch for

Travis Swaggerty CF: .358 AVG, .485 OBP, 73 H, 10 HR

Dylan Hardy LF: .357 AVG, .419 OBP, 70 H

Brendan Donovan RF: .333 AVG, .444 OBP, 65 H, 9 HR

Jared Barnes C: .320 AVG, .416 OBP, 13 HR

Matt Peacock P: 2.42 ERA, 3-3, 10 SV, 55 SO

Randy Bell P: 3.75 ERA, 6-3, 93 SO

Tyler Carr P: 4.46 ERA, 7-1, 66 SO

Thomas Huston: 4.50 ERA, 5-3, 54 SO

Make sure to check into Maroon and White Nation for coverage of the Diamond Dawgs run through the NCAA Tournament.

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