Mississippi State, Ole Miss baseball pitching rotations released for rivalry series

Stefan Krajisnik, Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Mississippi State baseball is sticking to a familiar pitching rotation for its series at Ole Miss. Khal Stephen will start Friday, Jurrangelo Cijntje will follow Saturday, but Sunday's spot is left undetermined, the SEC announced.

As for Ole Miss, the Rebels (18-15, 3-9 SEC) will have Riley Maddox for the opener, followed by Liam Doyle and Mason Nichols.

Nate Dohm opened the season as the Friday night starter for MSU (21-12, 6-6). However, an injury suffered in a March 8 win against Evansville shook up coach Chris Lemonis' rotation, leaving one spot undetermined each weekend since.

Dohm returned in Sunday's rubber match against Georgia, but was removed after only 12 pitches.

"It wasn't anything major," Lemonis said postgame. "He just didn't feel comfortable, and I just wasn't going to mess with it."

In three starts since he opened SEC play with a poor outing against LSU, Stephen has been worthy of MSU's top spot in the rotation. Against Texas A&M, Florida and Georgia, Stephen has allowed only three earned runs.

Cijntje, Mississippi State's ambidextrous pitcher, has improved his ERA from 8.10 as a freshman to 3.45 this season. In his lone career start against Ole Miss, he threw 5⅔ innings, allowing only one run in the win.

Though the Rebels were swept at Arkansas last weekend, coach Mike Bianco is sticking with his same rotation.

Ole Miss owns the second-worst ERA in the SEC. Maddox, after allowing one run in 5⅔ innings against Kentucky on March 29, allowed four runs in five innings at Arkansas.

Doyle had a promising start to his SEC schedule. Against South Carolina and Tennessee, he allowed six earned runs in 11⅓ innings. However, he has allowed 11 earned runs in six innings against Kentucky and Arkansas.

Nichols' outing against Arkansas was his 12th appearance of the season but his first start. He allowed one run in 3⅔ innings, his longest outing since he threw 4⅓ innings at Hawaii on Feb. 16.

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Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss baseball: Start times, how to watch

  • Friday: 7 p.m., SEC Network

  • Saturday: 7:30 p.m., ESPN2

  • Sunday: 1:30 p.m., SEC Network+

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @skrajisnik3.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State, Ole Miss baseball pitchers for series announced

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