It’s been just under a year since Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis was hired away from Indiana University.
In that time, Lemonis and the Bulldogs have faced No. 11 Ole Miss once — an 8-1 MSU victory in the Governor’s Cup April 23 in Pearl. But even with the small sample size, he has a firm handle on the importance of the rivalry.
“It’s going to be a war,” Lemonis said Wednesday. “There’s a lot at stake. It’s a really good team and we’re a really good team and it’s a rivalry game so I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Friday, the Bulldogs and Rebels will begin a three-game set in Oxford. This weekend’s series will be the final regular-season meeting between the two teams.
MSU enters game one having won seven of its last eight games and five of its past six Southeastern Conference contests. It will also mark the 11th game in the last 12 the Bulldogs will face a team ranked in the Baseball America Top 25.
The Bulldogs will trot out their usual pitching contingent of redshirt junior Ethan Small, freshman JT Ginn and senior Peyton Plumlee for games one, two and three, respectively.
Small and Ginn have continuously held down the top spots in the rotation, while Plumlee is a recent stalwart at No. 3.
Plumlee has tossed 16.1 innings his past three starts, allowing just four runs on 10 hits and struck out nine.
Ole Miss will turn to junior Will Ethridge in game one and freshman Doug Nikhazy in game two. Ethridge is 5-4 with a 2.80 ERA in 11 starts. Most recently, he went 7.0 innings against LSU, giving up four runs on eight hits.
Nikhazy boasts a 3.22 ERA in nine starts and has made another six appearances out of the bullpen.
Since falling to MSU in April, Ole Miss has won five of its past seven games, including a 5-1 mark against conference foes in that span.
The Rebels and Bulldogs have each won nine of the past 18 meetings in SEC play against one another, though MSU is 9-1 in the last 10 games against Ole Miss.
“What’re they called, ‘The School up North?'” senior outfielder Elijah MacNamee joked. “We’re going up there, we’re going to have fun. It’s going to be a great, great weekend.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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