ARLINGTON, TEXAS \u2013 Fourth-ranked Mississippi State ventures away from the friendly confines of Dudy Noble Field for the first time this season to take part in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series.<\/p>\n
The Diamond Dawgs open things at Globe Life Field \u2013 the home of the Texas Rangers – on Friday against Arizona State at 11 a.m. The three-day event continues Saturday with a 3 p.m. matchup with Virginia Tech. and finishes with a showdown with No. 1 UCLA on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. <\/p>\n
All three games will be streamed via a FloCollege subscription<\/a>.<\/p>\n MSU last played in the event to open the 2021 season and went 2-1 with victories over then ninth-ranked Texas and No. 3 Texas Tech en route to the program’s first national championship. <\/p>\n The Bulldogs will send sophomore right-hander Ryan McPherson<\/a> to the mound to start things off against the Sun Devils. McPherson has opened both of Mississippi State’s series sweeps to begin the year and tops the team with 15 strikeouts and has only walked one in 10 innings while sporting a 1-0 record and a 2.70 earned run average.<\/p>\n ASU counters with junior southpaw Cole Carlon, who is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA with 12 strikeouts and three walks across two starts and 11 innings. <\/p>\n The Diamond Dawgs are off to their best start since 2015 at 9-0 and riding high following a 16-3 victory against Austin Peay in seven innings on Tuesday. MSU outscored its opponents 93-26 during a nine-game homestand to start the year including three run-rule victories in the past five outings.<\/p>\n Brian O’Connor<\/a>‘s Bulldogs are hitting .356 as a team and are tied for the national lead with Florida, Georgia Tech and New Mexico with 30 doubles. Mississippi State has connected on 11 homers and are averaging 10.3 runs per game. They have also swiped 15 bases in 19 chances and maintain a .987 fielding percentage. <\/p>\n All-American third baseman Ace Reese<\/a> leads the Diamond Dawg regulars batting .514 with 11 of his 18 hits on the year going for extra bases. The junior from Canton, Texas has eight doubles, three homers, 15 RBIs and an OPS of 1.575 to top the team in all of those categories. Graduate outfielder Bryce Chance<\/a> is a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts.<\/p>\n On the mound, MSU’s pitching staff sports a 2.61 ERA with 111 strikeouts and 28 walks across 76 innings. The Bulldogs rank in the top 10 nationally in ERA, strikeouts per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio. Opponents are hitting just .201 against them with only two homers.<\/p>\n Sophomores Tomas Valincius<\/a> and Duke Stone<\/a> are both 2-0 with Valincius being one of eight arms with a flawless ERA. Tyler Pitzer<\/a>, Maddox Webb<\/a>, Brendan Sweeney<\/a> and Ben Davis<\/a> have all recorded a save this spring. <\/p>\n Arizona State is 8-1 on the year and coming off its first loss after splitting a midweek series at No. 13 Oklahoma. The Sooners walked off the Sun Devils scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth for a 4-3 victory. <\/p>\n Virginia Tech enters the tournament at 7-1 having won three straight and suffering its lone loss to Rutgers 16-1 at home before bouncing back to claim the series. The Hokies square off with 23rd-ranked Texas A&M on Friday. <\/p>\n The nation’s top-ranked team, UCLA, is 6-2 and reeling from a 4-3 loss to San Diego State at home on Tuesday. The Bruins take on No. 20 Tennessee as well as the Aggies before meeting the Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n This weekend will mark the first meeting between Mississippi State and Virginia Tech on the diamond. The Diamond Dawgs are an even 2-2 against Arizona State all-time and are 1-7 against UCLA. <\/p>\n Visit\u00a0www.HailState.com<\/a>\u00a0for the latest news and information on the baseball program. Fans can also follow the program on social media by searching ‘HailStateBB’ on\u00a0X<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n