March 25, 1999

The Kentucky Wildcats baseball team (6-13, 1-5 SEC) will play host to the Mississippi State Bulldogs (20-3, 3-2 SEC) in a three-game series beginning Friday, March 26, at 6 p.m. at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

UK and Mississippi State first met in 1925. The Bulldogs lead the series, 36-23. The two schools met last season in Starkville, Miss., and UK won two-of-three games. Last year’s series marked the turning point for UK, as the Wildcats won nine of their last 15 SEC games. UK enters this weekend’s conference play having won a midweek game against Morehead State University, 10-8. Sophomore Will Crumbaugh hit two home runs, the first and second of his career, to give the Cats the victory.

Two Wildcats carry hitting streaks into the series. Junior Breck Price has a 13-game hitting streak and sophomore John Wilson has reached base safely in seven consecutive games.

Junior Ben Shaffar will take the mound Friday night for Kentucky. Shaffar leads the team in strikeouts, recording 50 in 35.2 innings pitched. Junior Nathan Kent will pitch Saturday. Kent threw eight innings with ten strikeouts in last Sunday’s loss to Ole Miss. Sophomore Brandon Webb will throw on Sunday. Webb threw a career-high 12 strikeouts against Ole Miss, giving up only two earned runs.

Mississippi State comes into the weekend ranked 12th in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN coaches’ poll. They took two-of-three games from South Carolina last weekend and beat Samford, 11-1, in midweek, nonconference action.