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Baseball

SERIES PREVIEW: Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Mississippi – The No. 18 Texas A&M Aggies wrap up April with a road trip to Mississippi State. The Aggies (30-11, 9-9 SEC) enter the weekend with a 9-3 mark in April, including a 6-3 ledger in league action.

Game Notes - Mississippi State Opens in a new window
STARKVILLE, Mississippi – The No. 18 Texas A&M Aggies wrap up April with a road trip to Mississippi State. The Aggies (30-11, 9-9 SEC) enter the weekend with a 9-3 mark in April, including a 6-3 ledger in league action.
 
Sunday's game will air on the SEC Network with Mike Morgan (play-by-play) and Mike Rooney (color analyst) on the call.
 
Every game of the series is available for viewing on SEC Network +. SEC Network + provides digital-only events to SEC Network subscribers through WatchESPN and the ESPN app on smartphones, computers, tablets and connected devices (Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One). All three games will air on SportsRadio 1150/102.7 The Zone with Dave South and Chuck Glenewinkel on the call.
 
Michael Helman leads the Aggie offense with a .398 average, good for 20th in the nation. His 66 hits rank ninth in the country and his 43 runs are good for 32nd nationally.
 
Texas A&M is ranked in the top 25 in the nation in  is ranked in the top 25 in the nation in ERA (7th – 2.93), triples (12th - 15), WHIP (11th - 1.20), hits (20th - 418), hits allowed/9 inn (21st – 7.66), walks allowed/9 inn (25th – 3.17).
 
The Aggie offense is pouncing early in 2018, scoring first in 29 of the 41 games on the season and scoring in the first inning in 20 games. Texas A&M is outscoring opponents 47-8 in the first inning, 82-16 in the first two frames and 115-34 in the first three innings.
 
Mitchell Kilkenny ranks fourth in the nation in wins (4), 40th in ERA (1.91), 51st in WHIP (0.98) and 79th in hits allowed per nine inning (6.55).
 
 
#18 TEXAS A&M AGGIES (30-11, 9-9 SEC) VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE (23-19, 8-10 SEC)
Dudy Noble Field (10,767) • Starkville, Mississippi
 
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
• FRIDAY:
  #34 Mitchell Kilkenny (Jr., RHP, 8-1, 1.91 ERA) vs. #48 Konnor Pilkington (Jr., LHP, 2-5, 2.95 ERA)
• SATURDAY:  #14 John Doxakis (So., LHP, 6-1, 2.10 ERA) vs #44 Ethan Small (So., LHP, 4-3, 2.79 ERA)
• SUNDAY:  #32 Stephen Kolek (3-4, 3.77 ERA) vs. #45 Jacob Billingsley (Sr., RHP, 3-2, 4.14 ERA)
  
SCHEDULE Friday, 6:32 p.m. • Saturday, 6:32 p.m. • Sunday, 3:32 p.m.  
TELEVISION Sunday – SEC Network •  Mike Morgan (play-by-play), Mike Rooney (color analyst)
LIVE VIDEO SEC Network + (WatchESPN credentials required through cable provider)
RADIO SportsRadio 1150/102.7 The Zone  •  Dave South (play-by-play), Chuck Glenewinkel (color analyst)
LIVE AUDIO RadioAggieland.com
LIVE STATS hailstate.com/schedule.aspx?path=baseball
RANKINGS Texas A&M – 18th (USAT, NCBWA), 22nd (D1B);
Mississippi State – unranked
For the sake of consistency, Texas A&M uses the USA Today Coaches Poll in releases.
SERIES HISTORY Texas A&M leads series, 16-14