game on

It’s not a bloodlust rivalry, but on the rare occasions when Mississippi State and Southern Miss get together, there is an unmistakable intensity among all concerned. The Bulldogs and Golden Eagles meet Tuesday night in the first game of the annual three-game college series at Trustmark Park in Pearl. First pitch is set for 6:30. A big crowd is likely. USM is 13-8-1, coming off a doubleheader split at Louisiana Tech on Friday. The resurgent Connor Barron leads the Golden Eagles at the plate with a .345 average; he has three home runs, 10 RBIs and eight steals. Matt Durst is at .341 with two homers and 16 RBIs, and Tim Lynch has four bombs to go with a .281 average. But most impressive about this USM club is its pitching, which has posted a staff ERA of 2.28. The USM arms will be tested by an MSU team (18-8 after dropping two of three at Kentucky over the weekend) that has a .414 on-base percentage, tops among SEC clubs. Jacob Robson has sparked the Bulldogs with a .436 average (.558 OBP), 29 runs and 15 steals. Cody Brown is hitting .324, Seth Heck .314 and Wes Rea .295 (.544 OBP) with two homers and 17 RBIs. State’s staff ERA is a respectable 3.71. You probably won’t see front-line pitchers in this mid-week game, but the stats suggest that both teams have more than a couple of quality arms. And make no mistake: There is incentive to win on both sides.