The Mississippi State Bulldogs will play host to Michigan and Troy in this weekend’s Cadence Classic. The Dawgs are coming off an impressive opening weekend, sweeping Murray State in a three-game series and also besting Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday 13-2.
Junior Edward Easley led offensively, going 10-for-13 with a home run and six RBIs to give him a .769 batting average to start the season.
“Our offense was really productive this weekend,” Easley said. “There were really no weak spots in our lineup, which is an improvement from last year.”
The Bulldogs also had an impressive showing defensively, committing only one error during the weekend and no errors during their win against Mississippi Valley.
“I think we pitched well enough and hit well enough this weekend,” head coach Ron Polk said. “We made all the plays defensively and only made one error, which is really impressive.”
The Bulldogs’ pitching had a successful weekend.
Freshman Ricky Bowen registered a pair of strikeouts and retired five of the six batters he faced in Sunday’s win, while sophomore Aaron Weatherford had 11 straight strikeouts after struggling against the first three batters in Friday’s game.
“I think as long as everyone stays healthy, our pitching will be really strong this season,” Polk said. “But it’s all going to depend on everyone’s health.”
Junior left-hander Justin Pigott, who led the SEC last year with a 1.66 ERA, allowed only 1 run and four hits to take the win in Saturday’s game.
“Justin Pigott really got it done for us,” Easley said. “He kept the hitters off balance by changing speeds and not overpowering people. Josh Johnson is coming off some arm pain, but it looks like he’ll be OK for this weekend.”
The Bulldogs’ mix of veteran and younger players proves to be strong coming into this weekend’s Cadence Classic.
Some of the freshmen had impressive outings both defensively and offensively.
“We’ve got six guys playing positions that they didn’t play last year,” Polk said. “We’re a young, green ballclub, but yet we’ve got a lot of strong veterans.”
Freshman third baseman Connor Powers looks to be a threat going into this weekend, after notching 2 home runs and five RBIs in the Murray State series.
“It’s always nice to win. It helps the mood of the kid as a player and the mood of the entire ballclub,” Polk said. “Momentum is good sometimes in baseball, but we know we’re going to face better competition, especially this weekend with last year’s Big 10 champ, Michigan.”
The Bulldogs have not faced Michigan in more than 20 years, but Polk said that he plans to prepare his team for them with plenty of scouting reports.
“Our confidence is up,” Easley said. “I think we’ve all got the jitters out of the way, and the young guys are more comfortable.
“But Murray State isn’t a great ballclub. We’re going to face a lot better competition, and we know that. It just helps us to get ready for this weekend.