SEC West Series for Baseball Brings Mississippi State to Town
4/5/2023 4:19:00 PM | Baseball
The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs will meet for the 426th time in series history on Thursday
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama baseball welcomes Mississippi State to town for a three-game SEC Western Division series this Thursday through Saturday. The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs are set for a pair of 6 p.m. CT starts on both Thursday and Friday followed by a 5 p.m. first pitch in the finale. Games one and two of the series will stream live on SEC Network+ with Saturday's contest airing for a national audience on ESPNU.
The Mississippi State series will have a promotion-packed finale on Saturday. Game three will feature the second of five 'SEC Cup Series' giveaways. The first 500 fans can pick up their Mississippi State series cup upon arrival at The Joe.
The series finale will also continue 'Kids' Day at The Joe'. All kids 18-and-under can purchase a $5 general admission ticket. Children will also have the chance to run the bases postgame. Additionally, Saturday will be the Tide's second baseball card giveaway of the 2023 season. The giveaway is part of a season-long promotion highlighting the 2023 roster. Kids can get their pack of cards and stay after the game to get autographs from the group of players featured on this Saturday's set of cards.
Follow the TideÂÂ
Fans can follow the series via the below outlets:
Watch: SEC Network+ (Thursday and Friday) / ESPNU (Saturday)
Listen: 100.9 FM / CTSN / The Varsity App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: RollTide.com
Probable Starting Pitching Matchups
THURSDAY: UA – Garrett McMillan (Sr., RHP) vs. MSU – Cade Smith (Jr., RHP)
FRIDAY: UA – Luke Holman (So., RHP) vs. MSU – Jurrangelo Cijntje (Fr., BHP)
SATURDAY: UA – Grayson Hitt (Jr., LHP) vs. MSU – Landon Gartman (Sr., RHP)
Leading Off
- Alabama and Mississippi State will meet for the 426th time in history when the Western Division foes open the series at Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Thursday evening. The Tide holds the all-time advantage, 215-206-4, including a 127-82-2 at home.
- The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs met last season from March 25-27 with State earning a 2-1 series win. The Bulldogs came out on top, 7-6, in 10 innings to begin the series with game two also favoring MSU, this time at 8-7 to clinch the series Alabama battled back for a 6-2 win on getaway day, its first victory in Starkville since 2015.
- Alabama last hosted Mississippi State at The Joe from May 20-22, 2021. The eventual national champion Bulldogs came away with a series sweep, posting wins of 4-2, 7-0 and 7-3 across the series.
- The Bulldogs are the Tide's most frequent opponent with LSU second at 381 meetings. UA also has the most victories against State as part of a 215-206-4 all-time record. The Tide's second-most wins have come against Ole Miss at 214.
- Alabama's series with Mississippi State is also the third-longest standing against an SEC opponent with the first matchup coming in 1896. Only Vanderbilt (1893) and Ole Miss (1895) date further back than MSU.
About Alabama
- The Crimson Tide enters the series with Mississippi State at 2-2 over the last week. Alabama came away with one win over then-No. 6 Arkansas last weekend in Fayetteville before downing Troy on Tuesday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
- UA's offense has highlighted the four-game stretch. The Tide batted .351 as a team and recorded 14 extra-base hits, seven of which were home runs. Alabama produced double-digit hits in three of the four contests, including a season-high 22 at Arkansas on March 31 as part of 44 total hits across the series with the Razorbacks.
- Tommy Seidl leads the way entering the State series, batting .625 (10-16) with a double, one RBI, four runs, a walk and three stolen bases over the last four games. Drew Williamson is close behind with a .444 (8-18) average that includes four RBI, four runs scored and three walks. Ed Johnson is also above the .400 mark over the last four contests, batting .438 (7-16) with a double, two RBI, three runs, two walks and a stolen base.
- UA paired another big offensive night with a solid start from Jacob McNairy for a 10-2 victory over Troy on Tuesday.
- Alabama recorded 10 hits and drew eight walks on the way to 10 runs. The offense crossed at least one run in five innings, highlighted by a five-run fourth.
- The Tide was led by Seidl, who finished 3-for-3 with an RBI and one run scored. Bryce Eblin paced Alabama in RBI with three while seven total hitters contributed one RBI on the night.
- McNairy picked up the win, tossing 4.2 innings of one-run baseball. He allowed three hits and issued no walks while striking out four. The bullpen then combined for the final 4.1 frames, limiting the Trojans to just three hits and one run.
- The Crimson Tide bats were on fire last Friday night at Baum-Walker Stadium, powering Alabama to a 12-1 victory over sixth-ranked Arkansas. Alabama's offense totaled a season-high 22 hits on the way to 12 runs for the win.
- Alabama scored in five of the nine innings with all nine starters recording at least one hit, including eight multi-hit performances. The bats also produced four home runs with one apiece from Williamson, William Hamiter, Colby Shelton and Mac Guscette.
- Williamson tied for the team lead in hits with three while adding two RBI, two runs and a walk. Shelton and Guscette each tallied two hits and two runs with Shelton adding a walk and an RBI while Guscette recorded two RBI to tie for the team-best mark. Caden Rose, Johnson and Seidl each matched Williamson for the team lead in hits with three.
- The Tide also received a strong performance from its pitching staff on Friday. Ben Hess picked up the win in a shortened outing, tossing 4.0 innings and allowing one run on two hits with five punchouts. Hagan Banks followed, retiring all 12 batters he faced in order across his 4.0 relief frames, before Connor Ball worked a scoreless ninth.
- Alabama traded blows with Arkansas last Saturday, with the Tide coming up short, 9-6, in a back-and-forth contest.
- The Crimson Tide got out to a 4-0 lead with one in the second and three in the fourth. Arkansas answered with a three-run home half of the fourth to cut the lead to one. The Hogs tied things up with one in the sixth, but the Tide countered with one in the seventh to retake the lead at 5-4.
- Following the stretch, a two-run frame put Arkansas back in front, but, once again, Alabama was able to even things up with a run in the eighth. In the home half of the eight, a pair of home runs staked the Razorbacks to a 9-6 advantage.
- The Tide offense was solid once again on Saturday, totaling 15 hits, including five for extra bases. Williamson and Seidl tied for the team lead in hits with three apiece while Dominic Tamez led in RBI with two.
- A back-and-forth contest on Sunday finished in favor of the Razorbacks, 5-4.
- Both teams traded two runs apiece in the first before the Tide took the lead with one in the fifth. Arkansas answered in the home half, scoring a pair to take a 4-3 lead. Alabama countered for one in the sixth to even things up, but the Hogs came right back with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame for the 5-4 lead.
About Mississippi State
- Chris Lemonis is in his fifth season in Starkville and ninth year overall as a collegiate head coach. He entered the 2023 campaign with a career 281-158-2 mark that included a 140-67 record at State. A 1992 graduate of The Citadel, Lemonis is assisted by Scott Foxhall and Jake Gautreau along with volunteer assistant Kyle Cheesebrough.
- Mississippi State finished the 2022 season at 26-30 overall, including a 9-21 mark in SEC play.
- The Bulldogs were selected to finish seventh in the Western Division and 13th overall in the Southeastern Conference in the league's preseason poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches.
On Deck
Alabama will continue on its current eight-game homestand with a midweek matchup against Southern Miss. The Crimson Tide and Golden Eagles will square off on Tuesday, April 11 at The Joe with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. Fans can catch all the action live on SEC Network+.
