Bulldogs take on Rebels in Pearl

There was a bad taste left in the mouth of the Mississippi State Bulldogs as they left Oxford three weekends ago.

In the final game of a Southeastern Conference series, the Bulldogs lost to the Ole Miss Rebels 14-2 in seven innings. it was a tough blow to MSU and resulted in a series loss to Ole Miss 2-1.

The Bulldogs head to Pearl Wednesday night for the Govenor's Cup game with a sense of a little unfinished business against the rival Rebels.

“We need to play well on Wednesday night,” MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. “We will have a bunch of fans there in Pearl and we owe these guys one. I believe we'll come out ready to play.”

Since that loss to Ole Miss, the Bulldogs have won seven of their last eight games.

MSU is coming off a series win at Vanderbilt where Hunter Hines hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning for the difference in a game three 8-7 victory.

“They just fight down to our last at-bat,” Lemonis said. “We got a big series on the road. We've had a chance to get a couple of these and we haven't. We need it. We need resume builders. As we are building and finish the season, I like where we are. We can still play better.”

The Bulldogs will be led into the action by their big boppers in the middle of the batting order Dakota Jordan and Hines.

Jordan leads MSU with .362 batting average, 16 home runs and 55 runs batted in, while Hines is hitting .284 with 12 homers and 42 RBIs.

After taking on the Rebels tonight in a game that does not count in the SEC standings, the Bulldogs host the Alabama Crimson Tide this weekend.

“We've got four SEC games this week so we can really do some damage if our minds are right and we play good baseball,” Lemonis said.

MSU has announced Pico Kohn (1-0, 4.50 ERA) as the starting pitcher for Wednesday night's game against Ole Miss, but several relievers are expected to take the mound.

“It may be good for us to get some arms recovered a little bit,” Lemonis said. “You have to recover them back and get be ready for Friday night.”

Wednesday night's 6:30p.m. start will be televised by ESPN2.*

Mississippi State’s Hunter Hines had three home runs in the Vanderbilt series and now has 12 for the season. (Photo by Craig Jackson, for Daily Times Leader)