WHEN Friday, 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, 12 p.m.; and Saturday 3:45 p.m. (approximately).
WHERE Dudy Noble Field (13,000), Starkville, Miss.
RECORDS Arkansas 28-10, 10-5 SEC; Mississippi State 19-19, 5-10 SEC.
RANKINGS Arkansas 3; Mississippi State NR.
COACHES Arkansas: Dave Van Horn - 623-353 in 16th season at Arkansas and 940-511 in 24th season overall in Division I; Mississippi State: Gary Henderson - 19-16 in first season at Mississippi State and 277-215 in ninth season overall.
SERIES Mississippi State leads 53-43.
LAST MEETING Arkansas defeated Mississippi State four of five times last season, most recently 9-2 on May 26, 2017, at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.
TELEVISION All three games will be streamed on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN app.
RADIO Razorback Sports Network can be accessed through local FM and AM affiliates, via the Arkansas Razorbacks Gameday app, via the TuneIn app or on ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
LIKELY PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1 - Arkansas: RHP Blaine Knight (6-0, 1.95 ERA); Mississippi State: RHP Konnor Pilkington (2-5, 2.57 ERA).
Game 2 - Arkansas: LHP Kacey Murphy (5-2, 2.00 ERA); Mississippi State: LHP Ethan Small (3-3, 2.94 ERA).
Game 3 - Arkansas: RHP Isaiah Campbell (3-3, 3.44 ERA); Mississippi State: RHP Jacob Billingsley (2-2, 4.08 ERA).
WEATHER According to the National Weather Service, Friday night will be clear with a low temperature near 45 degrees. Saturday night’s forecast includes a low of 57 degrees and 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after midnight.
TEAM COMPARISON
Team ERA: Arkansas 3.20; Mississippi State 3.66.
Earned Runs Per Game: Arkansas 7.58; Mississippi State 3.96.
Batting Average: Arkansas .309; Mississippi State .264.
Opponent Batting Average: Arkansas .234; Mississippi State .247.
Fielding Percentage: Arkansas .974; Mississippi State .974.
Schedule Strength: Arkansas 5; Mississippi State 45.
RPI: Arkansas 4; Mississippi State 67.
NOTABLE Second-year Mississippi State head coach Andy Cannizaro resigned in February, a little less than one week into the season. No reason was given for Cannizaro’s resignation, but the Clarion Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Miss., reported that Cannizaro stated he made “poor decisions” and, citing unnamed sources, reported there was a school investigation into rumors of infidelity….Mississippi State interim head coach Gary Henderson spent eight seasons as head coach at Kentucky from 2009-16. Henderson became Mississippi State’s pitching coach in 2016 after Wes Johnson left for the same position at Arkansas….Mississippi State’s Dudy Noble Field is undergoing a $55 million renovation that is not scheduled to be finished until next season….Arkansas has not won a road series this season. The Razorbacks lost two of three games at Florida and Ole Miss in March….Arkansas closer Matt Cronin has nine saves, four shy of the Razorbacks’ single-season record. Colby Suggs, a student assistant coach at Arkansas, has the record of 13 saves in 2013, and spoke to WholeHogSports about Cronin’s chase. Read that article here….Mississippi State has scored one run or no runs in four of its five SEC series openers this season.