Bleav in Mississippi State

A home-field sweeping leaves Mississippi State well off the SEC pace and nearing triple-digits in Monday’s updated NCAA RPI. The Bulldogs stay home for four games this week, and must start stacking up wins quickly to secure a SEC Tournament spot and improve NCAA Tournament hopes. Bullpen issues cost the Dogs one win but the larger problem is no production at the plate in RBI situations. Spring football peaks this week with two more practices ahead of Saturday’s morning spring game, more a scrimmage given the state of State’s roster. The quarterback battle has reliable Will Rogers leading athletic Sawyer Robertson.

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Mississippi State hosts LSU during a crucial nine-game home stand for Bulldog baseball and their NCAA Tournament goals. State has improved its NCAA RPI greatly in two weeks but still is far from assured of post-season status. Coach Chris Lemonis is considering revising his starting rotation for this weekend but seems more likely to make these moves for the Auburn series. The all-righthander starting trio struggled at Arkansas and must regain location and control against one of the SEC’s best offenses. Bullpen roles are becoming clearer as more middle relievers get more innings, while the late-game pressures fall to a pair of pitchers. Spring football is into the meat of camp contact work and Mike Leach will talk about it following Saturday’s practice.

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Mississippi State begins a new month and an extended stretch of SEC West weekends with a trip to Arkansas. Cold conditions are expected in Fayetteville but the Diamond Dogs are feeling some heat to steal a win or two, and end Arkansas’ streak of sweeps at State expense. The Bulldogs also badly need to improve their RPI which has been in uncomfortable triple-digits for weeks. It is a different Razorback team in several ways, particularly on offense where many numbers favor Mississippi State. The Bulldogs have dialed up their power lately and are on nearly a record pace slugging the ball, but Coach Chris Lemonis wants more consistency through the order with hits, runs, and RBI from everyone. Arkansas brings superior pitching to this matchup yet State has enough talented arms to keep up the strikeout pace. Meanwhile spring football concludes a second week with a Saturday practice.

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Mississippi State took its must-win series with Alabama and evened the SEC record after two weekends. The Bulldogs got their wins the hardest ways, with 11 of the 15 total runs scored in the seventh innings or after. The weekend still left an incomplete feeling with a Sunday loss preventing a sweep which would have built momentum going into April and four SEC West rivalry series. Starting pitching was good, not great as defined by Coach Greg Lemonis. Bullpen issues continue even in wins as State rides the best available arms and works for matchups. The offense is either hot and powerful, with 20 home runs in a seven-game stretch; or cold, really cold with a sub-.200 average in losses. Meanwhile with two practices in the books Coach Mike Leach puts the Bulldogs to work Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday this week.

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Bulldog baseball is in town for a SEC weekend and hosting Alabama in a series which both clubs need to win. Mississippi State is looking to at least square the SEC record and maybe more. Bulldog batters have been flashing fresh power in the last two weeks and are third in SEC home runs. Maybe as importantly the Dogs are hitting doubles and driving in runs that were missing for weeks. A batting order is taking clearer shape with Jess Davis leading off ahead of Kamren James, setting up middle-men for RBI opportunities. Pitching struggled with ERA at Georgia and the same three starters must limit early damage while the offense hopefully builds margin for a still-shaky bullpen. On the football field Leach's immediate spring priorities are improving a secondary that struggled last fall, particularly at safety; and rebuilding the blocking. If a pair of still-developing tackles can take care of their ends the offensive line can inspire some confidence. All jobs are officially open, even quarterback where two-year starter Will Rogers will get pushed by redshirts Sawyer Robertson and Daniel Greek.

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Mississippi State dropped a SEC season-opening series at Georgia and will likely drop from the top-25 rankings as well. The number which matters more is the NCAA's updated RPI, which can only go up from last week's debut at #178. At this point all that really counts is wins and after dropping a pair to a veteran Georgia team the Diamond Dogs need to at least take this weekend's series with Alabama and preferably score a sweep. A lineup and batting order do seem to be taking shape just as starting pitching struggled all weekend and the bullpen more so. Meanwhile Bulldog basketball has a new boss. Three days after Ben Howland was dismissed, Chris Jans was hired from New Mexico State to build on Howland's work and return Mississippi State to the NCAA Tournament. And, once back there to win games.

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SEC baseball season is underway and Mississippi State steps to the plate this evening at Georgia. Bulldog baseball has been an early-season mystery as offensive and pitching statistics don't exactly square-up. This reflects an ongoing search for the best batting order while injuries have forced revisions to both starting pitching and relief roles. State is #178 in the NCAA's ratings index and needs to open SEC season strong for eventual post-season position. Bulldog basketball is now in the public phase of the search to replace dismissed Coach Ben Howland. The job is far more attractive today than when Howland arrived and the leading candidates have been busy with NCAA Tournament action.

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A tough loss at Virginia ended Mississippi State's 2021-22 basketball season, in a manner Coach Ben Howland said epitomized the whole campaign. Now Bulldog basketball will wait on the expected news that Howland's own time as head coach has ended after seven seasons. He inherited a complete rebuilding job and did so over time, yet in the process raised expectations for the program his teams could not quite meet with just one NCAA Tournament appearance. Howland led the program with dignity and deserves thanks for a tough job done well, but it will be a new coach taking State to that next level. An announcement is needed soon, too, as current players and signees weigh their own futures with the program.

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