COMPLETE STARKVILLE REGIONAL INFORMATION
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STARKVILLE, Miss. — Earlier in the season, Central Arkansas took two of three from Mississippi State in Starkville, dealing the Bulldogs their only non-conference losses of the 2013 season. Dating back to 2012, the Bears have won three of four at Dudy Noble Field.
The Bears (39-20) will look to continue that success on Friday as they square off against the Bulldogs (43-17), but this time with the stakes much higher as it comes on the opening day of the NCAA Starkville Regional – the Bears' first-ever NCAA postseason appearance.
While the Bears are making their first appearance, Mississippi State is hosting a regional for the 12th time and the Bulldogs are making their 33rd trip to the regionals.
The regional is being held at one of the top venues in all of college baseball in Dudy Noble Field, where the Bulldogs were fifth in the nation in attendance this season with an average of 7,294 per game.
The Bulldogs, the No. 9 team in the nation, will open with senior RHP Kendall Graveman (5-5, 3.04) on the mound. Graveman threw 5.2 innings in a 7-3 loss to the Bears earlier this season, allowing five hits and one walk en route to surrendering four runs – three of which were earned. The Bears will counter with senior Caleb McClanahan (10-5, 2.17), who went 4.1 against the Bulldogs in a 4-2 loss – giving up two runs, both earned, on three hits.
Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by Hunter Renfroe, who is hitting .352 with 15 home runs and 54 runs batted in for the season with a .652 slugging percentage. Adam Frazier also bats .352 and has a team-high 90 hits with six triples. The Bears are paced by senior outfielder Forrestt Allday, the Southland Conference tournament MVP, who is hitting .383 with a .518 on-base percentage for the season thanks in part to 49 walks and 14 times being hit by pitch. Senior catcher Michael Marietta is second on the team with a .315 average, but leads with four home runs and 56 runs batted in.
The Starkville Regional, touted by many analysts as one of, if not the, toughest regional in the field, also features Sun Belt Conference regular-season co-champion South Alabama (42-18) and Atlantic Sun regular-season champion Mercer (43-16). The Bears are the only team in the Starkville Regional to win their conference tournament and earn the automatic berth.
South Alabama and Mercer open the regional at 2 p.m., with the winner taking on the UCA-MSU winner on Saturday.
