When the Bulldogs take to the field Friday night at Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala., the Tigers and Diamond ‘Dawgs will reunite for the 147th time in the pair’s storied baseball rivalry. MSU head coach Ron Polk will square off against the Tigers for the first time since his return to Starkville. The last time Polk faced Auburn as the coach at MSU, the Tigers defeated Polk’s Diamond ‘Dawgs in the 1997 SEC Tournament in Columbus, Ga., 5-4.
Polk’s last trip to the Plains was also unpleasant, as Auburn defeated State 3-1 in a Sunday affair in 1996. Coach Polk is 65-49 lifetime against the Tigers, including 3-3 in his two years at Georgia.
State heads into the series with a 77-68-1 lead over the Tigers, including last year’s sweep of Auburn at Dudy-Noble Field (2-1, 4-0, 8-2). The Bulldogs will look to do something they have not done in four years at Auburn¥win on the Plains. The last MSU win against the Tigers at Plainsman Park was 1998, when the ‘Dawgs took a rain-abbreviated two-game series 13-4, 8-0.
The Bulldogs have taken at least one game from the Tigers in Auburn in the last eight series. The Tigers’ last sweep of the Diamond ‘Dawgs on the Plains was 1985, when the Tigers defeated State 3-2, 3-1 and 8-1.
Fresh off of a midweek loss to Georgia Tech (10-4) in Atlanta, Auburn’s skipper, Steve Renfroe, will look for his Tigers’ bats to come to life.
The hot bat for Auburn belongs to junior catcher Bobby Huddleston. Huddleston brings a team-leading .400 batting average into the SEC weekend contest. Auburn will see action against probable weekend starters for the Diamond ‘Dawgs, Paul Maholm (3.22 ERA) on Friday, Tanner Brock (4.33 ERA) on Saturday and Joey Collums (3.15 ERA) in Sunday action.
State will put a 6-0 record on Friday nights on the line with Maholm on the mound. The Bulldogs are a perfect 4-0 this year behind the Friday night starter in SEC play.
Maholm is 5-0 with three complete games in league competition and 6-0 in games played on Friday.
Game times for the weekend begin Friday at 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s start is slated for 3 p.m., and Sunday’s start is set for 1:30 p.m.
The weekend series is not televised, but the Tigers and Bulldogs’ weekend series can be heard on the MSU Bulldog Radio Network with Jim Ellis calling all the action.