The only remaining unbeaten team in the SEC, the Mississippi State Bulldogs, come into their weekend series against St. Joseph’s on a roll, starting the season off on an 11-game win streak. The No. 5 Bulldogs look to stay perfect as the Hawks of St. Joseph’s (2-4) out of the Atlantic 10 Conference make the journey down to Dudy Noble Field.
The Maroon and White’s offense has heated up the past few games, particularly with the help of junior first baseman Alex Detz, who now leads MSU batters with 12 RBIs, batting .423 on the year. Detz’s impressive season has been a surprise to some but not to shortstop Adam Frazier.
“I knew he (Detz) could hit. I played with him a couple of summers ago,” Frazier said. “He knows the strike zone really well.”
Detz is not the only Bulldog contributing to the outstanding offense so far. Frazier currently has a six-game hit streak and has gotten a hit in 10 of the Bulldogs’ 11 games this season.
Frazier is also batting .465 with five RBIs on the 2013 season. Right fielder Hunter Renfroe has driven in nine RBIs on the season.
In two midweek games, State defeated Rhode Island 13-2 and 17-5. In those two games MSU, scored its most runs since 2010 by bringing in 24 combined runs.
In Wednesday’s game, senior Sam Frost drove in four runs, and junior Derrick Armstrong and freshman Jacob Robson each recorded four RBIs.
Frazier and Detz each picked up three hits against Rhode Island.
Ross Mitchell picked up the win, moving to 3-0 on the season.
St. Joseph’s could pose a challenge for the Bulldogs’ bats as the Hawks have three pitchers throwing a .270 ERA or better while striking out 51 batters on the season. The Hawks’ pitchers will also have a challenge since the Maroon and White batters have are batting .336 on the season, the best average amongst SEC teams.
Head coach John Cohen said he plans to stick with the same rotation he used last week with Jacob Lindgren starting today, Evan Mitchell taking the mound Saturday and Kendall Graveman and Will Cox getting the starts Sunday.
The Bulldogs and Hawks will begin their four-game series today with the first pitch at 4 p.m. Saturday, the teams will play at 12 p.m., and Sunday will include a double-header starting at 1 p.m.