There’s a top 20 matchup on the diamond in the SEC this weekend, as (9) Mississippi State travels to College Station to take on (16) Texas A&M.
Mississippi State (30-16, 14-7) looks to bounce back from last weekend’s series loss to (4) Auburn. The Bulldogs come into this weekend atop the SEC West along with the Tigers. They travel to Texas A&M (33-13, 13-8) to take take on an Aggies bunch that hasn’t lost a series since late March. In this stretch, A&M has won 5 straight conference series, including series wins against Auburn, and (15) LSU.
Both the Bulldogs and Aggies have conference leaders in offense coming into the weekend. Mississippi State’s Brent Rooker, and Texas A&M’s Braden Shewmake are 1 and 2 in the SEC in hits. Rooker leads the conference with 71 hits, while Shewmake is on his tail with 70. Rooker also leads the SEC in batting average at .413, and Shewmake is in the top 5, batting .355.
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Both guys are coming off big weekends, as well. Rooker went 7-for-13 with 3 RBI and a homer last weekend, against Auburn. Shewmake went 8-for-16, driving in 7 runs, with a home run in a sweep against Mizzou. Having these two on the field at the same time this weekend should be must-watch baseball.
With the Aggies right behind Mississippi State and Auburn in the SEC West, a series win against the Bulldogs can go a long way. Maybe more impressively, a series win will be the 6th in a row for the Aggies, as they quietly continue to move up in the rankings.
On the other hand, Mississippi State looks to avoid two consecutive series losses in conference play. And with Auburn playing a below-average Alabama club this weekend, the Bulldogs need to take two-out-of three at the very least to keep pace with the Tigers.
The top-20 matchup begins Thursday night, at 6:30 CT, and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Friday- 6:30 CT, SECN+
Saturday- 1:00 CT, ESPNU