MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama baseball will host two midweek contests at Stanky Field this week, beginning Tuesday with a 6:30 p.m. matchup with No. 17 Mississippi State.
The Jaguars will then host Southeastern Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday evening at Stanky Field. Both games will be broadcast live on WNSP 105.5 FM in Mobile, and can be accessed nationwide at WNSP.com. Live streaming will also be available for purchase through the All-Access section at USAJaguars.com. Live stats are available for all Jaguar baseball games through the multimedia section at USAJaguars.com, while Twitter updates are provided at Twitter.com/SouthALBaseball.
South Alabama (22-7) will send right-hander Matt Bell (4-0) to the mound for his fifth start of the season. Bell carries a 1.65 ERA in 27 1/3 innings into Tuesday’s start, and has 21 strikeouts against seven walks. Opponents are batting just .179 against him. Bell is tied for third in the Sun Belt Conference in wins (4).
The Jaguars will look to snap a three-game losing skid after dropping three games at Florida Atlantic last weekend. South Alabama is 13-1 at Stanky Field this season, and is 10-1 in non-conference home games. The Jaguars are 10-1 against right-handed starting pitchers at Stanky Field this year, and is unbeaten (10-0) when out-hitting the opposition at home. USA is hitting .322 with 23 doubles, one triple, four home runs, 111 RBI, 127 runs scored and has more walks (70) than strikeouts (68) in 14 games at Stanky Field.
Whitt Dorsey leads the Sun Belt Conference with a .458 batting average, while Jordan Patterson ranks in the top five in batting average (.398, 4th), on-base percentage (.519, 2nd), runs scored (35, 2nd), hits (41, 4th), RBI (28, T-4th), hit by pitch (10, T-2nd) and total bases (61, 5th).
Nolan Earley is tied for the league lead in sacrifice flies (4), tied for second in doubles (12), third in RBI (29), tied for sixth with Patterson in walks (18) and tied for seventh in runs scored (25). Cole Billingsley ranks fifth in the conference with 40 hits.
Mississippi State (23-8) enters the game 2-4 in road contests after dropping two of three games at No. 11 Arkansas last weekend. The Bulldogs fell in the final two games of their series at Kentucky March 22-23.
MSU has not announced a starter, but the Bulldog pitching staff carries a 2.60 ERA with 270 strikeouts against 118 walks into Tuesday’s matchup. Opponents are hitting just .206 against them.
Hunter Renfroe leads MSU in batting average (.436), home runs (9), RBI (36), total bases (80), slugging percentage (.851) and stolen bases (8).
Mississippi State holds a 41-24 all-time lead over South Alabama in a series that dates back to 1976. The Jaguars are 11-16 against the Bulldogs in Mobile, and have dropped the last three meetings. USA last defeated MSU in 2009 with a 17-12 win at Stanky Field. Mississippi State won the only meeting between the schools last season 2-0 on a two-run walk-off home run by Wes Rea in the bottom of the 12th inning.
Southeastern Louisiana (21-8) will face No. 22 Alabama in Tuscaloosa Tuesday before travelling to Mobile for Wednesday’s contest with the Jaguars. The Lions have announced right-hander Kaleb Manuel as their starting pitcher.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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