Coming off of a Mayor’s Trophy game loss to Mississippi, the Bulldogs of Mississippi State return to action this weekend, to open up Super Bulldog Weekend with SEC Eastern Division foe, Georgia. This will open a two-weekend SEC homestand and three-game conference series for Mississippi State. MSU head coach Ron Polk welcomes his former Bulldog team back to the stadium that bares his name, Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium. Polk’s MSU Bulldogs hold an overall 20-15 record over the visitors from Athens and a 10-6 record at Dudy Noble.
The only MSU-Georgia meetings the last two years came in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. In 2000, the UGA Bulldogs blanked Mississippi State 5-0, but
the Maroon and White prevailed in 2001 en route to an SEC Championship, topping Georgia 8-4. The last meeting in Starkville between the two schools was 1998, with MSU posting a second-straight home series sweep.
First year head coach, David Perno will lead his, SEC and Eastern Division-leading, Georgia Bulldogs into Starkville. The UGA Bulldogs are led at the
plate by left fielder Chaz Lytle, hitting .404 on the year.
The Bulldogs from Athens are coming off of a series split with Tennessee Tech with Georgia winning the Wednesday night game 10-6, improving their record to 16-8 and 7-2 in the SEC.
MSU left-hander, Paul Maholm (2.62 ERA) is expected to draw the start for the Bulldogs on Friday, as Georgia will throw left-hander Mickey Westphal (6.35 ERA). Right-hander Tanner Brock (4.19 ERA) is expected to start for MSU on Saturday and will square off with Georgia’s right-handed pitcher, Bill Sharpton (4.83 ERA).
Action for this weekend series of the “Battle of the SEC’s Baseball Bulldogs” will be televised with Comcast Sports Southeast carrying Friday’s game at 6:36 p.m. and Saturday’s game being televised on FOX Sports Net South as the SEC-TV Game of the Week at 3:06 p.m.
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MSU baseball hosts UGA in important SEC season series
Kyle Lewis
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April 5, 2002
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