Diamond Dawgs Welcome North Alabama to Starkville

STARKVILLE – The Mississippi State Diamond Dawgs open a four-game homestand on Tuesday night when they play their last midweek game of the season. The Diamond Dawgs host the University of North Alabama.
 
First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. Tuesday will be broadcasted on SECN+. The contest will also be carried on the Bulldog Sports Network powered by LEARFIELD, along with a live audio stream via HailState.com/OnDemand.
 
Gameday Info
Tuesday, May 14 (6 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Nate Dohm, (3-0, 1.48 ERA), RHP, Jr.
UNA: John Allen Stogner, (2-6, 11.39 ERA), RHP, Jr.
 
Live Video: hailst.at/3JZ1TcD
Live Audio: hailst.at/audio
Live Stats: hailst.at/StatBroadcast
 
Promotions/Giveaways
Tuesday, May 14 - The first 250 can receive a State-To-The-Show Poster of Brandon Woodruff
 
Quick Hitters

• The Diamond Dawgs are in the national rankings. They were ranked No. 16 by D1 Baseball, No. 15 by Baseball America, No. 23 by Perfect Game, No. 18 by NCBWA and No. 16 by the USA Today/Coaches Poll.
• Last Tuesday, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame announced the five finalists for the Ferriss Trophy, presented annually to Mississippi's most outstanding college player. Dakota Jordan will represent the Diamond Dawgs this season. He leads the team in home runs (17) and RBIs (59). Jordan has the sixth-best batting average in the SEC, hitting .370. In the 19-year history of the award, seven Diamond Dawgs have earned the Ferriss Trophy on eight different occasions, with Jake Mangum (2016 & 19) being the only MSU student-athlete to earn the award twice. Tanner Allen (2021), Brent Rooker (2017), Hunter Renfroe (2012), Chris Stratton (2012), Ed Easley (2007) and Thomas Berkery (2006) have each walked away as Ferriss Trophy winners. The eight winners of the award are the most by any school in the state of Mississippi.
• David Mershon has been swiping bases at will this season. He is 23-for-25 in stolen bases. He stole his 23rd base of the season at Arkansas. With his 23rd stolen base, he has the tenth most stolen bases in program history. He takes over the tenth spot that Jake Mangum held. Mershon is one steal away from tying for ninth all-time. He is only six bases away from tying for the second most in a single season. 
• Khal Stephen and Jurrangelo Cijntje have been aces for the Dawgs on the mound this season. Entering the final week of the regular season, the duo has seven wins and has pitched 70 plus innings each. Each has over 80 strikeouts on the season as well. The last time the Dawgs had two pitchers throw 70 or more innings, win seven or more games, and have 80 or more punchouts was during the 2019 season when Ethan Small and JT Ginn accomplished this feat. Stephen and Cijntje have the fifth and sixth-best ERA (3.16, Stephen; 3.57, Cijntje) in the SEC this season. Both pitchers rank in the top 10 in strikeouts in the SEC. Cijntje has 89 Ks on the season, the fifth most, while Stephen has 85 punchouts this season, the eighth most. The 10th most Ks in a single season at MSU is 121. 
• Junior infielder/outfielder Hunter Hines enters the 2024 season as a Third Team Preseason All-American by Perfect Game. For his career, Hines has hit 52 home runs. The 52 home runs are the fifth most by an active player in the SEC. Tommy White (71), Jac Caglianone (68), Braden Montgomery (59) and Charlie Condon (59) are the only active players ahead of Hines. The 52 home runs are the 10th most by an active player in Division 1 baseball. The 52 home runs in a career are the fifth most at Mississippi State. He joined the top 5 on last Friday night when he hit two homers against Alabama at Dudy Noble Field.
• Against Alcorn State on April 16, the Mississippi State Bulldogs recorded a shutout for the third time this season. The Dawgs shut out Alcorn State on Tuesday night. They also shut out Ole Miss (4/12) and Mount St. Mary's (3/2). The Diamond Dawgs' last shutout prior to this season was June 30, 2021, when they defeated Vanderbilt to win the 2021 National Championship. During the 2021 season, the Diamond Dawgs tallied eight shutouts, four of which came in a row from March 7 to 12. During that span, the Diamond Dawgs defeated Kent State, Grambling, Louisiana, and Eastern Michigan. Khal Stephen pitched a gem at Ole Miss. The Dawgs came away with an 8-0 shutout victory over the Rebels. This was the Dawgs' first SEC shutout and first road SEC shutout since May 21 at Alabama.
• Bryce Chance has shown he is one of the toughest players to strike out in the nation this season. In his 51 games this season, Chance is the toughest player to strike out in the SEC.
• During the Arkansas series, the Dawgs had two players hit their first home runs of the season and the first homers as Dawgs. Freshman Ethan Pulliam hit his first long ball of his career in the game on Sunday. His homer was a three-run shot and went 418'. Joe Powell also hit his first homer as a Dawg. This was his 11th career bomb, with his first ten coming at the University of Cincinnati. His homer at Arkansas was 416'. These two homers were back-to-back home runs. This was the first time the Dawgs went back-to-back since March 30, 2024, at Florida, when David Mershon and Dakota Jordan went back-to-back.
• With the win at Arkansas on Saturday, Head Coach Chris Lemonis won his 200th game at Mississippi State. He won his 200th game in 310 career games at Mississippi State.

• The Diamond Dawgs lead the SEC in runners picked off. Mississippi State has picked off 12 runners this season. The next closest team has picked off ten.
• The Dude Effect is alive and well. Reserved seating has once again sold out for the season. Mississippi State has sold out reserved seating since 1987.
• On March 22 Mississippi State's 5-1 victory over Texas A&M marked their 1,000^th career SEC victory. Only four schools have accomplished this feat. MSU joined Florida, LSU, and Alabama to reach 1,000 wins in SEC games.
• Mississippi State is great at turning out major league talent, with 69 Diamond Dawgs reaching the highest level of the sport, but it is also great at keeping student-athletes on campus.

Scouting the Opponent – North Alabama

• North Alabama holds a 17-32-1 record and 9-17-1 ASUN conference record.
• The Lions are 6-14 in away games this season.
• Gehrig Frei leads the Lions' offense with a .326 batting average. Frei has 63 hits, 48 RBIs, 15 home runs and 11 doubles in 193 plate appearances this year.
• Leading North Alabama's pitching staff is Brycen Parrish. Parrish has made 17 appearances on the year and picked up 55 punchouts and two saves to earn a 3.46 ERA.

Series History

• Mississippi State leads the all-time series 8-2. The last matchup was in 2022 where the Diamond Dawgs took home the win 14-4.
• These two teams were scheduled to meet last season in Starkville, but the game was canceled because of weather.
• MSU has won the last four games over the Lions. Over the winning steak, Mississippi State is averaging 10.25 runs per game and only allowing 2.75 runs per game.
• Before meeting up again in 2021, the last meeting was on May 5, 1993.

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