Diamond Notes : Alabama Heads to Starkville for Series with No. 11 Mississippi State

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The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs will meet for the 413th time in series history on Thursday night

4/19/2017

TUSCALOOSA, AL –
Alabama travels to Starkville for a three-game Southeastern Conference series with Mississippi State at Dudy Noble Field from Thursday through Saturday. The Crimson Tide and Bulldogs are set for a 6 p.m. CT start in the series opener on Thursday, followed by a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch on Friday. Saturday's series finale is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. CT. The first game of the series will air nationally on SEC Network with Jason Benetti (play-by-play) and Mike Rooney (analyst) on the call. The final two games of the pairing will stream live on SEC Network+.

FOLLOW THE TIDE

Fans can follow all three games via the below outlets:

Watch: SEC Network (Thursday) / SEC Network+ (Friday & Saturday)
Listen: 102.9 FM / CTSN / TuneIn App
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
Live Stats: HailState.com

LEADING OFF

• Alabama and Mississippi State will meet for the 413th time in series history when the two teams square off for the opener on Thursday evening. The Crimson Tide holds the all-time advantage, 215-193-4, but the Bulldogs have the upper hand at home, maintaining a 108-80-2 mark in games played in Starkville. The two teams met four times in 2016, first for a three-game series in Tuscaloosa that fell in favor of State, 2-1, from April 28-30, and then for a single contest in Hoover at the SEC Tournament, a game that finished 4-1 with the Bulldogs in front.
• Mississippi State welcomes the Tide to Starkville with a 25-14 overall mark, including a 10-5 record in SEC play. The Bulldogs are coming off a 5-2 loss at South Alabama on Tuesday evening. Prior to the matchup in Mobile, MSU took two-of-three games in Columbia against South Carolina a weekend ago. State has won four of its five SEC series thus far, including sweeps of Tennessee at home and Ole Miss in Oxford.
• The Crimson Tide will begin the three-game series with sophomore left-hander Dylan Duarte on the mound on Thursday night. Alabama looks to senior righty Nick Eicholtz on Friday evening with Saturday's starter for the series finale still to be announced.
• The Bulldogs look to sophomore left-hander Konnor Pilkington in Thursday's series opener and will follow with fellow sophomore Cole Gordon, a righty, on Friday evening. The Bulldogs will finally call on right-handed redshirt junior Jacob Billingsley in the series finale on Saturday.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

THURSDAY: UA – Dylan Duarte (So., LHP) vs. MSU – Konnor Pilkington (So., LHP)
FRIDAY: UA – Nick Eicholtz (Sr., RHP) vs. MSU – Cole Gordon (So., RHP)
SATURDAY: UA – TBA vs. MSU – Jacob Billingsley (R-Jr., RHP

SERIES HISTORY – MISSISSIPPI STATE

• Alabama and Mississippi State will meet on Thursday night for the 413th time in a series that dates back to 1896, when State was referred to as Mississippi A&M. The SEC pairing with the Bulldogs is the third-oldest in UA baseball history, trailing only Vanderbilt (1893) and Ole Miss (1895).
• The Crimson Tide holds the all-time advantage, 215-193-4, but the Bulldogs lead by a 108-80-2 margin in games played in Starkville. Alabama has won four of the last five series played in Starkville, including a 2-1 series victory when the two teams last met at Dudy Noble Field from March 14-15, 2015.
• The very first series between the two schools came in 1896, with Alabama winning 9-2 on game one followed by an 11-2 victory in the next pairing. The Tide would go on to win six more games until its first loss in 1906.
• Alabama and Mississippi State met for a three-game series last season in Tuscaloosa from April 28-30. The third-ranked Bulldogs secured the win in the series opener before a rainout of game two forced a doubleheader on getaway day.
• State took game one, 12-5, using a five-spot in the top of the ninth to end the Tide's hopes at a comeback in what was a one-run game heading into the seventh.
• Friday's second game was rained out, forcing a doubleheader featuring two seven-inning contests on Saturday. The Crimson Tide earned a 4-3, walkoff win in nine innings in game one of the day. Down 3-2 in the ninth, UA used four consecutive walks to tie up the game before a Chance Vincent single back up the middle sealed the win for the Crimson Tide. Jake Walters tossed 6.1 innings, striking out six and allowing only two earned runs in the effort. Matt Foster followed with 2.2 frames on the way to his fifth win of the season.
• The second game of the twinbill went to MSU, with the Bulldogs using an error in the second inning to score two for the 2-1 win. Nick Eicholtz suffered the loss despite 6.0 innings of four-hit baseball and allowing two unearned runs with a walk. Eicholtz struck out a season-high tying five batters and retired nine of the final 10 he faced.
• Alabama and Mississippi State squared off in the SEC Tournament with the top-seeded Bulldogs winning 4-1. MSU starter Zac Houston had the Crimson Tide's number, working 8.2 innings of one-run baseball, allowing just four hits and not issuing a walk. He was pulled in the bottom of the ninth after allowing a pair of hits as UA tried to mount a comeback. Georgie Salem kept the game alive with a two-out double before Chandler Taylor followed with a double of his own off the wall to score Salem and make it 4-1, but the Tide would come no closer.
• Alabama head coach Greg Goff is 0-1 for his career against Mississippi State.

ON DECK

Alabama will next welcome the Jacksonville State Gamecocks to Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Tuesday, April 25. First pitch of the midweek contest is set for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+. The two teams met earlier this season, with Jacksonville State claiming a 2-1 win in 10 innings at The Joe on Tuesday, Feb. 28.


-UA-



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