Postseason Begins in Tallahassee for MSU Diamond Dawgs

May 31, 2018

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – Having overcome numerous obstacles during the regular season, Mississippi State will begin its Road To Omaha in the Tallahassee Regional with the 37th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.

State (31-25) will kick off its Tallahassee Regional schedule at Dick Howser Stadium on Friday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPNU against Oklahoma (36-23) in the double-elimination regional format. Two-seed MSU is joined in the four-team regional by host Florida State (43-17), three-seed Oklahoma and Southern Conference Tournament Champion, fourth-seeded Samford (36-24).

This marks the second time State reached the NCAA Tournament after starting the season 0-3, with the 1996 Diamond Dawgs having first accomplished the feat at 38-24, 17-13 SEC.

The winner of the Tallahassee Regional will take on the winner of the Clemson Regional for a best-of-three Super Regional series with a trip to the College World Series at stake.

REGIONAL SCHEDULE (All times CT)
Friday, June 1, 2018
G1 – 11 a.m. – No. 2 Mississippi State vs. No. 3 Oklahoma (ESPNU)
G2 – 6 p.m. – No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 4 Samford (ESPNU)

Saturday, June 2, 2018
G3 – 11 a.m. – Loser of G1 vs. Loser of G2
G4 – 4 p.m. – Winner of G1 vs. Winner of G2

Sunday, June 3, 2018
G5 – 11 a.m. – Winner of G3 vs. Loser of G4
G6 – 5 p.m. – Winner of G4 vs. Winner of G5

Monday, June 4, 2018
* G7 – Noon – If Necessary

MSU PROBABLE STARTERS

Friday: LHP Konnor Pilkington (2-6, 4.28 ERA)

Saturday: LHP Ethan Small (5-3, 2.94 ERA)

STATE VS. THE FIELD
Friday’s meeting between the Bulldogs and Sooners will be the fifth all-time meeting between the two sides, with the most recent matchup having been a 5-5 tie at Dodger Stadium on March 6, 2016 due to a travel curfew. MSU trails the all-time series 1-2-1.

MSU has not faced off against Florida State since the 2007 Tallahassee Regional which the Diamond Dawgs went 3-0 in and included two wins over the Seminoles, while FSU leads the all-time series, 7-6. MSU also appeared in the 2012 Tallahassee Regional, but finished 1-2 and didn’t face the host. State hasn’t taken on Samford since 2015 and holds a 34-10 advantage in the all-time series.

NEED TO KNOW

In 21 of State’s 31 wins thus far, opponents have been held to four runs or less. In three of the remaining 10, opponents scored just five runs.
The Diamond Dawgs have 17 comeback wins on the year (31 wins total), seven of which came in the month of March, eight in April (three against Ole Miss and two against Arkansas) and two in May (both vs. Florida). In 2017, 25 of State’s 40 wins were come-from-behind victories.
Despite an up-and-down journey through this season, MSU has shown glimpses of what it is capable of. By going 6-1 against Arkansas and Ole Miss in April and 3-0 vs. Florida in May, State improved to 9-1 on the year against Top 5 teams and has tallied 15 wins against ranked opponents this season.
State has come on strong after a 14-15 start and 2-7 in SEC play on March 31. Since April 1, MSU is 17-10 overall and 13-8 in conference play.
Holding a RPI of 92 on April 1, State has climbed 64 spots to No. 28 in just under two months by posting an 10-6 mark in the month of April and a 7-4 record in May with 12 of those wins having come against ranked teams, nine against teams ranked in the top five and eight against top-three teams.
Considering its opposition for the 2018 season, the Diamond Dawgs have played the sixth-toughest schedule in all of Division I baseball with a winning percentage of .595 (1818-1239-1) on the year.
MSU is 24-10 when holding opponents to five or less runs, 12-2 when holding others to two or less runs and 7-15 when allowing six or more runs. State is also 22-1 when scoring six or more runs, 18-6 when scoring first and 14-4 when having scored in the first inning.
The Diamond Dawgs have committed just four errors in 12 NCAA Tournament games over their last two appearances (2016 and 2017) and made no errors in five games during the 2017 Hattiesburg Regional.
In the 2016 and 2017 NCAA Regionals, State posted a .318 average at the plate. While opponents were .196 against MSU pitching.
Jake Mangum is hitting .308 (18-for-52) in his NCAA Tournament career with three doubles, five RBIs and four runs scored.
In the 2017 NCAA Tournament, Konnor Pilkington was 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts (13.0 IP and 13K, including 6.0 shutout innings vs. LSU in the Super Regional opener)
Following the conclusion of the regular season, Tanner Allen was named Freshman All-SEC at first base and junior Jake Mangum was named First Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive team.
Over the last 10 games, the bats have been hot as six different Bulldogs are averaging .300 or better at the plate during that stretch (Jordan Westburg – .462, Elijah MacNamee – .409, Tanner Allen – .405, Jake Mangum – .395, Hunter Stovall – .386, Rowdey Jordan – .333).
MacNamee is riding a career-best and team-best 21-game reached base streak, and in that span has batted .354 (28-for-79) with 19 runs scored, 10 doubles, three home runs and 21 RBIs.
With a hit in 16 of his last 18 games, MacNamee has recorded eight multi-hit games, four three-hit games, while averaging .368 (28-for-76) and collecting 20 RBIs, 19 runs scored, 10 doubles and three homers. The stretch lifted his batting average from .246 to .314.
Riding a 15-game hit streak, Hunter Stovall has also tallied a hit in 27 of his last 28 games. During the span is averaging .364 (43-for-188), with 21 RBIs, 19 runs scored, nine doubles, three triples and two home runs.
After having missed the entire 2017 season due to injury, Ethan Small has been impressive in his bounce-back season as he’s kept opponents to three or fewer runs in 12 of his 14 starts in 2018.
Jake Mangum has tallied four multi-hit games in the last five games, hitting .500 (11-for-22) with a pair of three-hit performances, two doubles, one triple, one home run and seven RBIs. Mangum has a hit in nine of his last 10 games and has hit five doubles in that stretch.
Against Top 5 teams, Mangum is 17-for-41 (.414) with 16 runs scored, nine RBIs, four doubles, one triple and one homer.
Freshman Rowdey Jordan is on a tear since April 14 (last 21 games), averaging .411 (30-for-73) with 23 runs scored, 12 RBIs, eight doubles, three home runs and 12 walks. In that span, Jordan has increased his batting average from .191 to .305.
Since returning to the field on May 9 after not having pitched since April 11, Riley Self has been dominant in 7.1 innings pitched. Over four appearances since May 9, Self has allowed just two hits (no extra-base hits), no runs, one walk and has struck out six.
Graduate transfer Zach Neff has allowed just one run in 6.1 innings pitched (1.42 ERA) against Top 5 teams in 2018. As a starter, Neff has allowed no runs, five hits, no walks in 10.0 innings pitched and has tallied 10 strikeouts.
State’s second graduate transfer JP France has also found success vs. Top 5 teams and has lasted 12.0 innings in four appearances (1.50 ERA), allowing 10 hits, three runs (two earned), two walks and has struck out 18.
With 122 doubles on the year, State is second the SEC and ranks 14th in the country in the category. 13 different Diamond Dawgs have tallied a double on the year, with Jake Mangum’s 20 being a team best. Mangum ranks second in the league and 29th nationally.
Along with holding a league second-best five triples, Tanner Allen ranks 37th nationally in the category.
Allen also has multi-hit performances in each of the last five games and against Top 5 teams this year is 15-for-40 (.375), with 10 runs scored, 13 RBIs, three doubles, one triple and a pair of home runs.
Mangum’s 84 hits are second-most in the conference and rank 31st in the country. Stovall ranks sixth in the SEC with 76 hits on the year.
While Mangum leads MSU in multi-hit games (25), Tanner Allen (22) and Hunter Stovall (20) are the next closest to their junior center fielder.
The MSU pitching staff has combined for 10+ strikeouts in 21 games this season.
State’s staff has also collected 26 or more punch outs in nine of its last 12 weekend series, with six of those having been 29+ strikeout weekends. The Bulldogs most recently struck out Florida 33 times.
MSU is third in the SEC in batters struck out looking (156), while Konnor Pilkington leads the league in strikeouts looking (39).
As a team, State is second in the league and ranks 19th in the nation in fielding double plays (53).
Stovall ranks second in the SEC in fielding double plays (44) and Luke Alexander ranks fourth in the conference (36).
The MSU defense also leads the SEC in runners caught stealing with 26 and is fifth in the league in runners picked off with seven.
In just 38 appearances this year, Marshall Gilbert is third in the conference with 16 runners caught stealing. Dustin Skelton ranks 10th with seven.

WEATHER FORECAST

Friday Forecast: High 85, Low 72 – Thunderstorms – 50% Chance of Rain

Sunday Forecast: High 89, Low 74 – Scattered Thunderstorms – 80% Chance of Rain

Saturday Forecast: High 90, Low 74 – Thunderstorms – 20% Chance of Rain

Monday Forecast: High 91, Low 72 – PM Thunderstorms – 50% Chance of Rain

LIVE VIDEO/TELEVISION

Friday’s games at the Tallahassee Regional will both air on ESPNU, with the television schedule for the rest of the weekend to be determined on a day-to-day basis. All of the games will also be streamed live through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.

LIVE STATS

All season long, fans can follow the action with pitch-by-pitch updates through live stats. Visit the Diamond Dawgs’ schedule page and click on the “Live Stats” link associated with the appropriate game.

LIVE AUDIO & RADIO

Friday’s game, along with all of State’s NCAA Tournament games, will air live on the Mississippi State Baseball Radio Network and WKBB 100.9 in Starkville. With Jim Ellis on the call, the contests will also be audio streamed live online at HailState.com/Plus and on TuneIn Radio.

TICKET INFO
Tickets for the 2018 NCAA Baseball Tallahassee Regional can be purchased through Seminoles.com. The price for the pass will be $55 for a reserved seat and $40 for a general admission seat. You will be able to pick your own seat on the seminoles.com, however you will not be allowed to leave a single seat. Single game tickets to Friday’s games will on sale on Friday morning at 8 a.m. Single game ticket prices are $18 for reserved seats (depending on availability) and $12 for adults and $8 for youth (ages 2 to 18), children under the age of 2 are FREE. Tickets for next day’s single game tickets on sale after the conclusion of the previous day’s games, once the opponents and times have been announced. The game day box office is located at Dick Howser Stadium and will open 2 hours prior to the first scheduled pitch of the day.

CLEAR BAG POLICY

Please visit http://seminoles.com/fsu-clear-bag-policy/ regarding the Clear Bag Policy for Dick Howser Stadium, which will be in effect for the entirety of the Tallahassee Regional.

NEXT UP FOR MSU

The winner of the Tallahassee Regional will take on the winner of the Clemson Regional for a best-of-three Super Regional series with a trip to the College World Series at stake.