The 8-2 Arizona Wildcats repay last year's Hi Corbett Classic with a four games in three days trip to Starkville and Dudy Noble Field this weekend.
Here's a look at the game times (MST), probable pitchers, and TV(!) for the various games against both Mississippi State and Samford. Both team's mascots are the Bulldogs, so that might get confusing.
Friday, Feb. 27, 2015
11 a.m. - Samford vs. Arizona
RHP Alex Ledford (1-1, 3.60) vs. RHP Tyger Talley (1-0, 4.22)
3 p.m. - Arizona vs. Mississippi State (SEC Network+)
RHP Preston Brown (2-0, 2.45) vs. RHP Austin Schnabel (1-1, 7.71)
Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015
10 a.m. - Arizona vs. Mississippi State (SEC Network)
LHP Lucas Laster (1-0, 2.16) vs. RHP Robby Medel (1-0, 1.46)
TBA * - Samford vs. Mississippi State (SEC Network+)
* 35 Minutes Following Conclusion Of Game One
RHP Austin Sexton (1-0, 2.25) RHP Jared Brasher (0-0, 7.20)
Sunday, March 1, 2015
12 p.m. - Arizona vs. Samford
RHP Cole Limbaugh (0-1, 16.50) vs. LHP Xavier Borde (2-0, 0.00)
3:30 p.m. - Samford vs. Mississippi State
TBA vs. TBA
Preview:
Mississippi State enters this weekend as one of three teams in Division 1 with a 9-0 record (USC and Texas A&M the others). But MSU certainly hasn't played any teams with the offensive prowess that Arizona has shown early in the season. MSU is 46th in the country with a team 2.78 ERA, but they are third in both runs per game (10.1) and on-base percentage (.480)
Jacob Robson and Seth Heck are the top two offensive players at MSU. They're hitting .536 and .533 respectively, and both have OBPs up near .700. One guy that almost everyone should recognize, Wes Rea, may not play this weekend after getting hit by a pitch in the knee.
On the mound, the MSU bullpen has four guys that have not allowed an earned run yet this season. Ross Mitchell leads that group, racking up a 2-0 record while throwing 11 innings in four games.
In the other two games, Arizona will get a Samford squad that has not performed well this season. These Bulldogs from Alabama have gone 3-4 this year against schools like Radford and Austin Peay. One thing that they do well is hit home runs though. Samford is third nationally with 12 long balls hit so far this season. Heath Quinn and Richard Greene each have three, while Damon Waller has two.
Samford's ERA and fielding percentage are among the worst in the country, so expect to see Arizona take advantage of that and put up a bunch of runs against this team.
There's no reason to believe that the Wildcats can't go at least 3-1 on this trip, getting a sweep of Samford and splitting with Mississippi State. It'll be interesting to see how this team responds to being in SEC country though.