Mississippi State’s Diamond Dawgs will begin their 11-day, eight-game road trip on Friday in Waco, Texas. Starting off their season with a 8-1 record, the Bulldogs will first compete in the Quala-T Imprints Baylor Classic at Baylor University, facing Winthrop on Friday, Baylor on Saturday and San Francisco on Sunday.
They will then have a pair of midweek games, facing University of Texas-Arlington on Tuesday and Dallas Baptist on Wednesday.
They will face their first Southeastern Conference opponents, beginning a three-game series on Friday against the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla.
“The team is excited about being on the road for the first time,” said assistant coach Russ McNickle, who handles the team’s scheduling. “They’re excited about getting to see different ball parks and playing different teams is unique.”
McNickle said the Baylor Classic will challenge the team as they prepare for their game of conference play.
“All three of the teams we’re playing in the Classic are NCAA Regional teams,” McNickle said. “That will be a great test for being on the road and playing quality teams.”
The Bulldogs continue to be led offensively by juniors Edward Easley and Mitch Moreland.
In their Wednesday win against Jacksonville State, Easley and Moreland combined for seven hits, four runs and two runs batted in.
They are the only Bulldogs to have hit safely in all nine games this season.
“It’s going to be some tough competition,” Easley said. “We don’t know a lot about the teams we’re going to play next week, but I’m sure our coaches will put together some good scouting reports. We’re just going to have to go out and play hard and see what we can do.”
McNickle said that the midweek games against UT-Arlington and Dallas Baptist will also be a test for the team.
“UT-Arlington went to the NCAA Regional last year,” McNickle said. “And a lot of people have told us that Dallas Baptist may be our toughest midweek game of the season.”
Easley said that playing talented ball clubs in the beginning of the week will be a good test for the younger guys, as well as the veterans, to prepare them to face Florida.
“Going out and playing some hard competition this next week will get our pitchers ready and get our hitters ready by facing some good pitching,” he said. “It will just help all around to get our team ready.”
McNickle said that overall this is one of the better tests he has seen to prepare the team to begin SEC play.
“It’s going to be a big measuring stick for some of the guys because you will see quality hitting and pitching five games in a row,” McNickle said.