STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State baseball team is running out of time.
MSU (22-16, 6-9 Southeastern Conference) lost to then-No. 2 Texas A&M 13-5 Sunday. The loss helped the Aggies (33-3, 11-3) win their second game in the three-game weekend series and handed the Bulldogs their fourth SEC series loss in five weekends. The win also catapulted Texas A&M to No. 1 in this week’s Baseball America poll.
With the series loss, MSU is 9-16 in its last 25 games. It is one of seven SEC teams with eight or nine league losses. With five SEC weekends left in the regular season, MSU is tied with Alabama and is sixth in the seven-team SEC Western Division. The Crimson Tide took two of three games in their league series earlier this season. The top 12 teams qualify for the SEC tournament, which begins May 19 in Hoover, Alabama.
MSU will try to regain momentum at 6:30 tonight when it plays host to Northwestern State. With No. 8 Florida and No. 2 LSU set to visit Starkville in the next three weeks, MSU can’t afford another non-conference loss. The Bulldogs are 16-7 in non-conference games, but they have lost their past two games (at Southern Mississippi and at Memphis last Tuesday).
After that Memphis loss, MSU’s Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) fell to a season-low No. 122 last Wednesday. That number improved 32 spots after the Texas A&M series. A 3-2 victory against the Aggies on Saturday helped the Bulldogs climb to No. 90, which is 11th in the SEC.
Northwestern State (20-15) has an RPI of 119. It was ranked ahead of MSU prior to the Bulldogs’ trip to College Station, Texas.
Sophomore right-hander Austin Sexton (3-3, 3.52 ERA) is scheduled to start on the mound for MSU against Evan Tidwell (2-3, 3.44).
Strong ties
The connections between the Bulldogs and Demons run deep.
MSU coach John Cohen start his career as a head coach at Northwestern State. He went 146-84 (.635 winning percentage) from 1998 until 2001 and was twice named the Southland Conference Coach of the Year. He led the team to conference titles in 1998 and 2001.
Lane Burroughs, who served as an assistant coach at MSU under Cohen from 2009 until 2012, is in his third season as coach at Northwestern State.
NSU volunteer assistant coach Nick Ammirati played for the Bulldogs in 2012 and 2013. He was the starting at catcher in all five of MSU’s games in the 2013 NCAA College World Series.
Two Gators suspended
MSU will play host to Florida at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Game 1 of a three-game SEC weekend series on Super Bulldog Weekend.
Two Florida pitchers have been suspended indefinitely after they were arrested Sunday night on trespassing charges.
Sophomores A.J. Puk and Kirby Snead were charged with a third-degree felony for allegedly climbing a crane inside a construction site on campus, according to The Orlando Sentinel. They were scheduled Monday to appear before a judge.
Puk, who began the season in the starting rotation, came on in relief and earned the win Saturday in a 12-5 victory against South Carolina. Snead worked two innings in the game, which was part of a three-game sweep.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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