MSU is hosting the South Carolina Gamecocks this week. How does Mississippi State baseball stack up vs. the Gamecocks? Uh… Not well.
The first two SEC series of the 2023 Mississippi State baseball season have gone pretty poorly for Chris Lemonis and company. Now the Bulldogs, off to an 0-6 start in SEC play, are set to host the South Carolina Gamecocks, who have not faced an SEC foe they couldn’t beat.
That’s certainly a recipe for success for the MSU Bulldogs. Surely nothing bad could happen this weekend for the MS State baseball team. Well, there’s only one way to find out.
This post is part of a series previewing the Mississippi State baseball series against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Read more about the upcoming series between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Gamecocks.
Table of contents:
3 Mississippi State baseball stats that are alarming
Mississippi State baseball’s ERA vs. SEC teams
14.98.
That’s a bad ERA. That’s the ERA for Mississippi State’s baseball team as the Bulldogs have faced SEC opponents. A good team will never have an ERA that high. Ever.
It shouldn’t shock anyone that the Bulldogs have the worst ERA in the SEC when it comes to SEC games. But in case you need to understand just how bad MSU’s ERA is, here’s how it stacks up against the rest of the conference:
| Team | ERA vs. SEC teams |
| South Carolina | 3.23 |
| Vanderbilt | 3.35 |
| Kentucky | 3.44 |
| Missouri | 4.09 |
| Florida | 4.33 |
| Alabama | 4.39 |
| LSU | 4.85 |
| Arkansas | 5.23 |
| Tennessee | 5.55 |
| Auburn | 8.13 |
| Georgia | 8.34 |
| Ole Miss | 8.70 |
| Texas A&M | 8.88 |
| Mississippi State | 14.98 |
South Carolina’s batting average vs. SEC teams
The Gamecocks are good at baseball. Just, you know, in case you weren’t aware of that fact, they are good at baseball. And they’re good at hitting baseballs. A lot better than Mississippi State is, for that matter.
MSU’s batting average in all games is a nice, solid .298. In SEC games, MSU’s batting average sits at .242.
South Carolina, meanwhile, has a .300 batting average so far this season. That’s pretty good. In SEC play, the Gamecocks boast a .278 batting average. That’s a bit of a decrease, sure, but it’s not as drastic as MSU’s.
And that doesn’t bode well for a team that has a 14.98 ERA.
Mississippi State’s SEC run differential vs. USC’s SEC run differential
Mississippi State has scored 26 runs in 6 SEC games. While not the greatest stat ever, it’s not bad by any means. However, MSU has given up 90 runs in SEC play. And that run differential now sits at -64 for the Bulldogs.
That’s horrendous.
Meanwhile, South Carolina’s SEC run differential? It’s really good, unsurprisingly. The Gamecocks have scored 51 runs vs. SEC teams and they’ve allowed 20 runs. That equals a run differential of 31.
That’s a positive number.
And it’s not painful to look at.
There’s a very good chance that the Mississippi State baseball team will struggle this weekend unless things change in a hurry.
The Underdog Tribune 