LSU baseball is taking on Mississippi State in one of college baseball’s most iconic venues, Dudy Noble Field. Yet, the season hasn’t gone as expected for either team. LSU is 20-9 and 4-5 in SEC play. Mississippi State, the defending national champions, is 17-12 and also 4-5 in SEC play.
Both teams are similar in that they’ve been scoring a lot of runs, but each has had difficulty in slowing other teams. Mississippi State’s pitching has struggled after some key injury losses, specifically Friday night starter and frontrunner for SEC pitcher of the year, Landon Sims. They sport a team ERA of 5.04. LSU, on the other hand, has been plagued by inefficient defense, committing the most errors in the SEC this year with 45.
Let’s go over how to watch and what to watch for this weekend:
Friday: LSU @ Mississippi State, 7:00 PM, SECN
Saturday: LSU @ Mississippi State, 2:00 PM, SECN+
Sunday: LSU @ Mississippi State, 1:00 PM, SECN+
RHP Ma’Khail Hilliard will take the mound for LSU’s Friday night opener. The fifth-year senior is coming off his best start of the season against Auburn, going 5.1 IP with just four hits and no runs given up. He struck out seven and walked two. If the trend holds for LSU, this will also be a big bullpen game for the last four innings. The likes of Eric Reyzelman, Riley Cooper, Paul Gervase, and Devin Fontenot will be called upon to get some big outs for the Tigers.
For Mississippi State, junior RHP Preston Johnson has been their starter for the past two openers. In his last game against Arkansas, he gave up seven ER in 4.0 IP. On the season, Johnson has a 4.70 ERA and a 3.17 K:BB ratio.
Saturday should see RHP Parker Stinnett on the mound for the Bulldogs. He may be the X-factor for the series this weekend. The Saturday night starter for LSU will be sophomore RHP Blake Money, an unorthodox move from Jay Johnson as Money has served as the Friday night starter so far this season. He is toeing the rubber with a 4.70 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. After missing some time due to a wrist inflammation, his rhythm hasn’t been quite the same in his last three starts. For LSU, this might be the weekend he returns to form.
Sunday will see Mississippi State put out its best pitcher this season, sophomore RHP Cade Smith. He’s netted the Bulldogs four Sunday wins this season and has a 3.00 ERA, one of the lowest on the team. On the other side, LSU Head Coach Jay Johnson has mixed up the Sunday starter a lot. Sophomore RHP Ty Floyd and freshman RHP Samuel Dutton seem like the most likely candidates.
Mississippi State’s hitter to watch for will be Kellum Clark. The sophomore has burst onto the scene in Starkville in a big way this year, slashing .283/.396/.630. He is tied for the team lead in home runs in nine.
For LSU, it’s Brayden Jobert. With so many right-handed arms coming after LSU this weekend, it’ll be the lefties to do damage for LSU, and the hottest as of late is Jobert. He also has been a breakout candidate this year but has done some serious damage to opposing pitching staffs with a slash line of .320/.407/.690, 10 home runs, and 38 RBIs.
Keys to victory:
LSU:
- Play sound defense
- Stay within yourself
- Take advantage of mistakes
MSU:
- Command the strike zone
- Use the home crowd to your advantage
- Put the ball in play
