MSU vs. Michigan State, Eastern Illinois - Game Times, Pitching Matchups, and More

After righting the ship a bit with two mid-week wins over Mount Saint Mary's, Mississippi State returns to action this weekend with the Diamond Classic at Dudy Noble Field. As a part of this year's edition of the annual round-robin action, State welcomes in Eastern Illinois (1-7) and Michigan State (4-2) for a weekend where each team will play four games each. While Eastern Illinois' record may not look impressive, it is important to note that the Panthers have played ONLY ranked teams so far this year in Louisville, Arkansas, and Louisiana-Lafayette. Michigan State has played a pretty tough schedule as well, and the Spartans do own an early season win over (4) Oregon State. Will Mississippi State continue its winning ways from Tuesday and Wednesday, or will the demons that plagued them last weekend return again? State fans are hoping for the former, and we'll find out soon enough as the Bulldogs kick off what looks to be another beautiful weekend of baseball at Dudy Noble Field.

Weekend Schedule

Friday
- 2:30 p.m. - Eastern Illinois vs. Michigan State
- 6:30 p.m. - Michigan State vs. Mississippi State

Saturday [UPDATED]
- 1 p.m. - Eastern Illinois vs. Mississippi State
- 4:30 p.m. - Michigan State vs. Mississippi State

Sunday
- 11 a.m. - Michigan State vs. Eastern Illinois
- 3 p.m. - Eastern Illinois vs. Mississippi State

Pitching Matchups (subject to change)

Friday

Eastern Illinois vs. Michigan State - 2:30 p.m.
Jr. RHP Matt Borens (0-1, 0.75 ERA) vs. So. RHP Justin Alleman (1-0, 4.00 ERA)

Michigan State vs. MSU - 6:30 p.m.
Jr. RHP Mick VanVossen (2-0, 3.27 ERA) vs. Jr. RHP Brandon Woodruff (1-1, 4.05 ERA)

Saturday [UPDATED]

Eastern Illinois vs. MSU - 1 p.m.
So. RHP Jake Johansmeier (1-1, 5.23 ERA) vs. Jr. RHP Trevor Fitts (2-0, 2.31 ERA)

Michigan State vs. MSU - 4:30 p.m.
So. LHP Anthony Misiewicz (0-1, 5.68 ERA) vs. TBA

Sunday

Michigan State vs. Eastern Illinois - 11 a.m.
RSr. RHP Chase Rihtarchik (0-1, 1.80 ERA) vs. RJr. LHP Christian Slazinik (0-1, 6.00 ERA)

Eastern Illinois vs. MSU - 3 p.m.
TBA vs. Fr. RHP Dakota Hudson (0-1, 2.57 ERA)

Leading Hitters

Eastern Illinois
- Frankie Perrone, OF | .318 avg, 7 hits, 2 RBIs
- Jacob Reese, C | .286 avg, 6 hits, 1 RBI

Michigan State
- Blaise Salter, C/1B | .333 avg, .571 slg, 7 hits, 1 HR, 5 RBIs
- Ryan Richardson, INF | .304 avg, .304 slg, 7 hits, 2 RBIs

Mississippi State
- Jake Vickerson, OF | .393 avg, .514 OBP, 11 hits, 5 RBIs
- Wes Rea, 1B | .306 avg, .583 slg, 11 hits, 3 HRs, 19 RBIs

Links

Baseball America Weekend Preview - 2/28 to 3/2
Diamond Classic Game Notes
Eastern Illinois Baseball Homepage
Michigan State Baseball Homepage

Top 25 Weekend Matchups

- Monmouth at (1) Virginia
- (14) Miami at (2) Florida State
- (3) South Carolina vs./vs./at (11) Clemson
- Wright State at (4) Oregon State
- (5) Cal State Fullerton at (9) Oregon
- Yale at (7) Louisiana State
- Stanford at (8) Vanderbilt
- (21) Alabama at (10) Louisiana-Lafayette
- (13) Cal Poly at Southern California
- North Florida at (22) North Carolina
- (23) Texas A&M at Fresno State
- South Alabama at (24) Arkansas

Top 25 Weekend Tournaments

- USA Baseball-Irish Classic, Cary, N.C.
(6) North Carolina State, (19) UCLA, Appalachian State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Youngstown State

- Houston College Classic
(12) Rice, (15) Texas, (16) Texas Christian, Houston, Sam Houston State, Texas Tech

- Louisville tournament:
(17) Indiana, (20) Louisville, Toledo

- Diamond Classic, Starkville, Miss.
(18) Mississippi State, Eastern Illinois, Michigan State

- Florida Tournament, Gainesville, Fla.
(25) Florida, Florida Gulf Coast, Illinois

SEC Weekend Matchups

- South Alabama at (24) Arkansas
- Eastern Michigan at Kentucky
- Stanford at (8) Vanderbilt
- Binghamton at Georgia
- Quinnipiac at Tennessee
- Michigan St., Eastern Illinois at (18) Mississippi St.
- (11) Clemson at (3) South Carolina
- Illinois at Florida
- (21) Alabama at (10) UL-Lafayette
- Illinois-Chicago at Missouri
- Presbyterian at Auburn
- UCF at Ole Miss
- Yale at (7) LSU
- (23) Texas A&M at Fresno St.