MSU-Florida highlights big Miss. college baseball weekend
No. 5 Mississippi State travels to No. 1 Florida for the biggest college baseball series of the week while Ole Miss and Southern Miss host crucial conference series this weekend.
The Bulldogs (21-8-1, 6-3) and Gators (28-3, 7-2) begin the three-game series at 4:30 p.m. Friday in Gainesville.
Right-handed ace Dakota Hudson will start Friday for MSU and junior right-hander Austin Sexton will get the ball on Saturday.
Sunday's starter is up in the air for the Bulldogs, but there's a chance that former East Central left-hander Konnor Pilkington will get the start.
No. 14 Ole Miss (22-7, 3-6) is in need of a strong weekend in Oxford against Arkansas (20-9, 4-5) after losing five of its last six conference contests.
Southern Miss (22-8, 8-1) enters this weekend's home series against Middle Tennessee (14-15, 2-7) in a tie with Florida Atlantic (22-4, 8-1) for first place in Conference USA.
Here are the game times and pitching match-ups for this weekend's games among the state's "Big Three" programs:
Middle Tennessee at Southern Miss
* 6 p.m., Friday: MTSU RHP Nate Hoffman (1-3, 4.74) vs. USM RHP Cord Cockrell (5-0, 2.74)
* 2 p.m., Saturday: MTSU LHP Aaron Burns (1-5, 3.66) vs. USM RHP Nick Johnson (2-0, 2.48)
* 1 p.m., Sunday: MTSU LHP Jake Wyrick (2-3, 3.90) vs. USM LHP Kirk McCarty (2-0, 3.72)
Arkansas at Ole Miss
* 6:30 p.m., Friday: Arkansas RHP James Teague (2-2, 3.12) vs. OM RHP Brady Bramlett (4-2, 2.97)
* 7 p.m., Saturday: Arkansas RHP Zach Jackson (2-2, 3.68) vs. OM LHP David Parkinson (0-0, 1.40)
* Noon, Sunday: TBA vs. TBA
Georgia at Mississippi State
* 4:30 p.m., Friday: MSU RHP Dakota Hudson (4-1, 0.92) vs. Florida RHP Logan Shore (5-0, 2.59)
* 6 p.m., Saturday - MSU RHP Austin Sexton (3-1, 2.98) vs. Florida RHP Alex Faedo (6-9, 2.53)
* 3 p.m., Sunday: TBA vs. Florida LHP A.J. Puk (1-2, 3.38)
This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 5:34 PM with the headline "MSU-Florida highlights big Miss. college baseball weekend ."