As the Mississippi State baseball team gets set to host the South Carolina Gamecocks, it’s worth wondering if the Bulldogs can keep up with their next opponent.
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.
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Mississippi State baseball prediction: Can the Bulldogs keep up with South Carolina?
When considering just how rough this MSU baseball season has started off, it’s hard to imagine how the Bulldogs will be able to really compete consistently this weekend.
Objectively speaking, there’s not much reason to be overly optimistic about how the Bulldogs have been playing so far. And the Bulldogs are about to face a really strong opponent.
Let’s go back and take a look at some stats again, shall we?
MSU baseball vs. South Carolina SEC stats
Mississippi State baseball
- ERA: 14.98
- Opponents’ ERA: 4.24
- Batting average: .242
- Opponents’ batting average: .342
- Home runs: 8
- Opponents’ home runs: 17
- Errors: 7
- Opponents’ errors: 6
South Carolina
- ERA: 3.23
- Opponents’ ERA: 8.70
- Batting average: .278
- Opponents’ batting average: .224
- Home runs: 16
- Opponents’ home runs: 7
- Errors: 3
- Opponents’ errors: 6
Hey, those stats don’t look all that comparable. Just take a gander at MSU’s SEC ERA. Since that’s so absurdly above South Carolina’s it’s fair to guess that these two pitching staffs are competing in entirely different ways right now.
Unless something changes in a hurry, things could be bad for MSU this weekend. and it’s probably worth taking a moment to point out that there’s no significant evidence that things will change all that quickly. Until now, MSU’s pitchers have had a hard time this season.
And as a result, it’s hard to see Mississippi State competing consistently against South Carolina this weekend. Expect South Carolina to take at least two of three. And you shouldn’t be shocked if USC is able to blow MSU out of the water at least once.
The Underdog Tribune 