Tigers Head to Starkville for Clash with No. 21 Mississippi State

Tuesday, March 19

Starkville, Miss.

4 P.M.

University of Memphis

Mississippi State

Daunte Stuart at New Orleans, March 16, 2024 by Brock Busick

Photo by: Brock Busick

Tigers Head to Starkville for Clash with No. 21 Mississippi State

Mar 18, 2024 | Baseball

Game Notes (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis baseball team hits the road for Starkville, Mississippi, for a midweek clash with No. 21 Mississippi State on Wednesday afternoon at an adjusted 4 p.m. start time at Dudy Noble Field (originally scheduled for 6 p.m.).

The Tigers (11-11) went 4-1 last week, picking up a pair of home midweek wins over North Alabama and Arkansas State before going on the road and taking a series at the University of New Orleans, two games to one. The Tigers and Privateers played a Saturday double header to finish the series and dodge Sunday rain with New Orleans edging out a 6-1 win. Memphis scored 12-plus runs for the seventh time this season in the second game to win the finale 12-10 and take the series.

The No. 21 Bulldogs (15-4) enter the matchup after taking a series from No. 2 LSU in Starkville to open SEC play over the weekend. Mississippi State won 9-3 on Friday, dropped a one-run game on Saturday and responded with a 15-5, eight-inning win over the second-ranked Tigers Sunday afternoon.

Dudy Noble Field will play host to the 50^th meeting all-time between the Tigers and Bulldogs, with Mississippi State holding a 36-13 all-time advantage. Memphis last defeated MSU in 2018, 6-1. Last year's matchup in Starkville was put to a halt by lightning and rain after the Tigers put a pair of runners on to begin the second inning in a 1-1 game.

The game will be live streamed on SEC Network + and will be available to stream on GoTigersGo.com with Jeff Brightwell on the audio call.

The Memphis offense has lit up the scoreboard during the first month of the season and leads The American with 168 runs scored through 22 games (7.6 runs per game). The Tigers have slugged 36 long balls to lead the league and rank 19^th in the nation. Memphis' 46 doubles rank 25^th in the NCAA and leads the AAC, while its 209 hits are second in the league and 32^nd-most in the country.

The Tigers' 42 stolen bases lead The American and rank 17^th in the country and their 117 walks drawn rank 29^th in the NCAA and lead the conference. Defensively, Memphis has turned the 19^th-most double plays in the country (18).

Seth Cox was named the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Player of the Week after a breakout week for the Tigers at the dish, batting .471 and collecting eight hits (four for extra bases) while smashing three home runs and driving in a dozen runs for a staggering 1.609 OPS on the week.

Pierre Seals leads the Tigers with a .350 batting average and is tied with Austin Baskin for the team lead in hits (28). Seals leads the squad with 10 stolen bases – including three in Sunday's 12-10 win over New Orleans in which he went 4-for-6 at the plate. Baskin extended his lengthy on-base streak to 35 games dating back to last season, including all 22 games this season.

Daunte Stuart has also reached base in all 22 games to start the season, including the final 18 games last season while playing for Northwestern State to bring his current streak to 40 games. The Bahamas native is No. 8 in the country and leads the AAC with 10 doubles His 25 runs scored are the second most in the league and lead the club.

Closer Brayden Sanders recorded a save in Friday night's 5-4 win at UNO and came back to save the second game of Saturday's double header with the Privateers in a 12-10 win to add to his conference-leading total of five (T-No. 3 in NCAA).

Center fielder Will Marcy is riding a five-game hit streak and is batting .324 on the year with four doubles, a home run and eight RBI from the top of the Tiger lineup. The speedy N.C. State transfer is six-for-six on stolen-base attempts while fielding 1.000.

Memphis will go with right-handed pitcher Cade Davis (1-3, 9.37 ERA) for his fifth-consecutive Tuesday start. The Bulldogs will counter with lefty Bradley Loftin (5 IP, 1.80 ERA), who will be making his second start of the year. Offensively, Mississippi State is led by Dakota Jordan's 10 home runs and 1.445 OPS (.408 AVG, 32 RBI) while a trio of additional Bulldogs are all batting over .300.

Memphis will hit the road again on Thursday following Tuesday's game in Starkville and head to Tampa, Florida, for AAC-opening weekend with a three-game series at South Florida (11-8).

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tiger Baseball, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.