How to watch Governor’s Cup: No. 17 Ole Miss vs. No. 10 Mississippi State
· Yahoo Sports
Ole Miss baseball’s first trip to Trustmark Park this season was a memorable thrashing of Southern Miss, and tonight the Governor’s Cup brings a chance to avenge an embarrassing sweep at home to rival Mississippi State.
The No. 17 Rebels (31-14, 11-10 SEC) and No. 10 Bulldogs (34-10, 13-8 SEC) have a first pitch set for 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss. This park is the former home of the Mississippi Braves and now home to the Frontier League’s Mississippi Mud Monsters, which is a huge layup for a toilet joke that I will not take.
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MSU’s sweep of the Rebels was a low point of the season for most fans. It seemed like the season was on the brink of being a wash, but Ole Miss and Mike Bianco bounced back considerably going 8-4 in SEC since that fateful weekend.
The Bulldogs meanwhile have had some bumps along the way but may be playing some of its better baseball after a sweep of a subpar LSU team and on an eight game winning streak. There is nothing like the rivalry between these two teams, however, and there will be a lot of emotion on the line as the Bulldogs look to remain perfect against the Rebels while Ole Miss tries to salvage something for this season.
As a reminder, this game counts as a non-conference game and does not affect SEC standings. There is the Governor’s Cup trophy and then maybe a picture with Tate Reeves in the postgame (what a treasured moment?).
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUP
- Ole Miss: RHP Owen Kelly (2-1, 3.04 ERA)
- Miss. St.: RHP Brendan Sweeney (0-0, 6.46 ERA)
The Rebels are sending reliable midweek arm Owen Kelly out on the mound tonight to start. In his last outing against Murray State last week, Kelly pitched four shutout innings against the Racers matching his longest stint of the season (March 3 vs. Memphis). Bianco has yet to have Kelly go more than 70 pitches in a game, so it will be one thing to watch for if he is doing well how long coaches leave him in against the Bulldogs.
MSU will have Brendan Sweeney take the hill as their starting pitcher out of Edmond, Okla. towering at 6’7” and previously at Eastern Oklahoma State College, Blinn College and South Carolina. This is a veteran college player who has had rough appearances against top 25 teams, so I’m assuming a short leash tonight if he gets into trouble early.
Sweeney’s last time out was a 0.1 IP, 3 ER appearance against Georgia on April 4, so he has been on the shelf for a bit. He did have a brief relief spot against Ole Miss on March 28 where he pitched one inning and gave up one earned run, so there is at least some kind of book on him for the lineup to work off.
Kelly and Ole Miss’ pitching staff will be challenged by this offense with damn near the whole line up hitting .300 or better. While the Rebels pitching has been its bright spot, the susceptible run production for Ole Miss has to find itself for this game to be competitive.
Tonight’s game will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with first pitch at 6 p.m. CT.