Mississippi State (18-7-1, 4-2 SEC) was tied for first in the SEC West standings coming into the weekend (Alabama took a half game lead with their win over UGA last night) and MSU has a chance to solidify their position in the conference as a whole with a series win over Ole Miss.
The Rebels had a great 20-2 start to the season, including a series win over then No. 2 Louisville, but they're currently on a three game losing streak after a tough series with South Carolina (who is arguably one of the best teams in the nation) and had their midweek matchup with Memphis postponed due to weather concerns.
Statistically, Ole Miss seems to be a fairly similar team to the Bulldogs. When it comes to pitching, the Rebels have a team ERA of 2.73, better than MSU's team ERA of 3.56. State, however, has struck out 260 batters while Ole Miss struck out 217 for an advantage of 43 strikeouts.
MSU, however, is more productive at the plate than Ole Miss. The Rebels are hitting .278 on the season so far for 224 hits, 69 of which went for extra bases. Of those extra base hits, the Rebels have 48 doubles, one triple, and 20 home runs. MSU has a team batting average of .317 for 289 hits. State has a total of 89 extra base hits, 65 doubles, seven triples, and 17 hits. MSU has scored 193 runs on the season for 7.4 runs per game while Ole Miss scored 166 runs on the season for 6.6 runs per game.
None of the games will be on TV, but you can view them online. Game one is tonight at 6:30, game two is tomorrow afternoon at 2:00, and game three will be on Sunday afternoon at 1:30.
For other relevent info regarding Ole Miss and this weekend, check out Daniel Black's SEC baseball weekend previews and predictions or listen to For Whom the Podcast Tolls preview the series. Also, feel free to join our game one open thread.