Mississippi State vs. South Carolina: Preview, Starting Pitchers

USA Today is conducting its annual “best college baseball stadium” fan vote and unsurprisingly, Dudy Noble Field is the early leader.

The stadium that holds the 25 highest-ever attended baseball games is almost a slam dunk winner for the award.

However, what’s happened on the field recently hasn’t been pretty. No. 17 Mississippi State has lost its last six SEC games, all at home, and now have an sub-.500 record in SEC play.

Maybe a road trip away from Starkville to face a team near the bottom of the conference standings with an interim coach is the cure for what ails the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State is headed east to face South Carolina, a proud baseball program that’s having another down season.

Here’s everything to know about Friday night’s series opening game.

The Opponent: South Carolina

South Carolina’s season never really found its footing, and the struggles eventually led to a midyear change.

 Second‑year coach Paul Mainieri was dismissed three weeks ago, with assistant Monte Lee stepping in as the interim. Lee isn’t a typical interim, either. He spent seven seasons as Clemson’s head coach before moving across the state to join South Carolina’s staff.

Since the switch, the Gamecocks have started to show some life. They challenged Georgia and Texas, then finally broke through with a sweep of Missouri last weekend.

At 19-19 overall and 5-10 in the SEC, a trip to the NCAA Tournament isn’t very likely, but this is a team that looks more competitive now than it did a month ago.

And in the back half of league play, that’s enough to make them a problem for anyone left on the schedule.

Starting Pitchers

LHP Tomas Valincius vs. RHP Brandon Stone

• Valincius: 6-1, 1.53 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 53 IP, 36 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 12 BB, 72 SO, .190 Opp. BA
• Stone: 4-1, 2.89 ERA, 43.2 IP, 43 H, 15 R, 14 ER, 14 BB, 43 SO, .256 Opp. BA