Baseball Closes Regular-Season Slate with Sixth-Ranked Mississippi State

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama baseball closes out the regular-season schedule with a three-game series at Sewell-Thomas Stadium against sixth-ranked Mississippi State from Thursday through Saturday. Things open with a pair 6 p.m. CT first pitches on both Thursday and Friday followed by a 1 p.m. start in the regular-season finale on Saturday. All three contests will air live on SEC Network+.

Follow the Tide

Fans can follow the three-game series via the below outlets:
Watch: SEC Network+
Listen: 100.9 FM / CTSN / TuneIn App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com

Probable Starting Pitching Matchups

THURSDAY: UA – Tyler Ras (Jr., RHP) vs. MSU – Christian MacLeod (Jr., RHP)
FRIDAY: UA – Dylan Smith (Jr., RHP) vs. MSU – Will Bednar (So., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA – TBA vs. MSU – TBA

Leading Off

Alabama and Mississippi State will meet for the 420th time in series history when the two teams square off on Thursday evening at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The Crimson Tide leads the all-time series, 214-201-4, including a 127-79-2 advantage in Tuscaloosa.
The two teams last met from April 12-14, 2019, in Starkville, with State earning a series sweep. The Bulldogs picked up a 6-0 win in the opener before clinching the series the next day thanks to a 9-1 victory. MSU was able to complete the sweep with a 13-3 win on getaway day.
Mississippi State claimed a 2-1 series win over Alabama in State's last trip to Tuscaloosa from May 4-6, 2018. The first two games of the series went to extras, with MSU winning game one, 14-12, before UA countered with a 4-3 win in game two. The series finale finished with a 6-4 final in favor of the Bulldogs to clinch the series.
Alabama will look to the duo of Tyler Ras and Dylan Smith one last time during the regular season. Ras will take the hill on Thursday followed by Smith on Friday evening. The Crimson Tide's starter in the series finale has yet to be announced.
Mississippi State counters with left-hander Christian MacLeod in Thursday's series opener. Will Bednar, a right-hander, takes the ball on Friday. The Bulldogs' starter for Saturday is still to be determined.

About Alabama

Alabama finished the weekend in Baton Rouge at 1-2 against LSU. The Crimson Tide first fell in a one-run affair on Friday before evening the series up on Saturday. The Tigers then claimed the series in the rubber match on Sunday.
The Crimson Tide suffered a 2-1 loss at LSU last Friday evening at Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers took the early lead with one run in the first and widened the gap with another run in the bottom of the seventh. Alabama was able to get on the board in the eighth but would get no closer for the eventual 2-1 final.
UA's offense was unable to break through for additional runs despite posting 13 hits on the night and reaching a baserunner in all nine frames, moving a man into scoring position in seven of the nine innings.
Davis Heller led the offensive effort on Friday with a 4-for-4 evening while Jim Jarvis followed close behind, finishing a perfect 3-for-3 with an RBI-triple.
Alabama received a standout effort from Tyler Ras, who was handed the hard-luck loss in the opener. The junior tossed 6.2 innings and gave up two runs on four hits and three walks with a career-high eight strikeouts. Ras allowed one run on three hits in the first frame before settling down to limit LSU to just one hit and two walks the rest of the way.
The Crimson Tide used six early runs and a solid bullpen effort to post a 6-5 win over LSU last Saturday afternoon.
Alabama fell behind to start as LSU got on the board with two runs in the first. UA answered with one in the top of the second, but the Tigers came right back with one of their own.
That run would be the last for LSU until the ninth, as UA went on to score five straight runs from the third through the fifth to build a sizeable advantage. The Tigers used a two-run home run in the ninth to pull within one, but a flyout ended things at 6-5 in favor of Alabama.
Dylan Smith contributed 4.0 innings in his start on Saturday, allowing three runs on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Smith gave up two in the first and one in the second but blanked the Tigers for the next 2.0 frames before handing it over to the bullpen.
The relief duo of Connor Shamblin and Chase Lee proceeded to post zeroes across the next 4.0 innings as the offense widened the gap for Alabama. Shamblin contributed 4.2 relief frames, allowing two runs on three hits and a pair of walks with three strikeouts. He was replaced by Lee, with the Tide closer inducing a fly ball for the game's final out to lock down his seventh save in as many chances.
Alabama's bats posted 13 hits for a second straight day and capitalized on run-scoring opportunities, finishing 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Sam Praytor highlighted Alabama's offensive effort, finishing 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and one run scored. Also homering was Zane Denton with the Tide first baseman going 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run to pair with his roundtripper.
The Crimson Tide suffered a 13-5 loss to LSU on Sunday afternoon.
LSU got out front early with five runs across the first two frames. The Tide got on the board with two in the third, but the Tigers came right back with three in the home half. Alabama added one in the fourth and was matched with an LSU tally in the fifth, with the Tide battling for one more in the sixth before the Tigers put the game out of reach with a three-spot in the seventh. Each team added a single tally in the eighth to end the game at 13-5.

About Mississippi State

Mississippi State finished the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign at 12-4 overall. State was preparing to host Arkansas for a weekend series to open SEC play when the season was officially canceled.
Chris Lemonis is in his third season at Mississippi State and owns a 101-32 record in Starkville as part of a 240-123-2 career mark across his seven seasons as a collegiate head coach. A 1992 graduate of The Citadel, Lemonis is joined on his staff by assistants Scott Foxhall and Jake Gautreau along with volunteer assistant Kyle Cheesebrough.
Mississippi State was selected to finish second in the West and fourth overall in the SEC in the league's preseason poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches.

On Deck

Alabama will head to the Hoover Met for a Tuesday contest in the play-in round of the 2021 SEC Tournament. The Crimson Tide's opponent and time of game are yet to be determined. The matchup will air live on SEC Network.

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