Hogs will open SEC Tournament with Mississippi State

Dave Van Horn, Arkansas head coach, talks to the press Tuesday, May 23, 2017, during practice at Jerry D. Young Memorial Field on the campus of UAB in Birmingham, Ala.


Arkansas will open the SEC Tournament with a game against Mississippi State at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Hoover, Ala.

The Bulldogs beat Georgia 3-0 Wednesday in a game that was postponed a day earlier because of rain. SEC player of the year Brent Rooker hit a first-inning home run to give Mississippi State a 2-0 lead and Rooker scored again in the third after a leadoff single.

Konnor Pilkington pitched eight scoreless innings to earn the win and Riley Self earned the save after inheriting two runners with no outs in the top of the ninth.

Mississippi State (35-22) is the No. 5 seed in the tournament and ranked No. 19 in the USA Today coaches' poll.

Arkansas (39-15) swept Mississippi State during a three-game series at Baum Stadium in March with wins by final scores of 3-1, 5-4 and 6-1.

'Our guys are excited to get another opportunity to play Arkansas," Mississippi State coach Andy Cannizaro told SEC Network. "I think we're a different team today than we were two months ago when we went there. I think it took going to Fayetteville and being in a hostile environment...that showed us what this league was all about."

The loser of Thursday morning's game will play again later Thursday in an elimination game, while the winner won't play again until Friday.