STARKVILLE — For the Mississippi State softball team, this is not your ordinary midweek game.
Instead, the No. 1 team is in town for a bizarre non-conference matchup between Southeastern Conference rivals.
RPI points will be the talking point when MSU (29-10) plays host to LSU (36-3) in a 6 p.m. start at the MSU Softball Field.
“You are always excited about playing the No. 1 team in the nation,” MSU sophomore catcher Katie Anne Bailey said. “In the SEC, you know you are going to get to do it eventually, maybe even more than once.”
However, on this occasion it will be just once. Inside conference play, the 13 softball-playing SEC schools face eight league foes.
Thus, some schools have played conference foes on the non-conference part of their schedule.
“I think it’s good for softball,” MSU head coach Vann Stuedeman said. “It is certainly good for both of these teams. You want to measure yourself against good competition.”
MSU enters the contest on a five-game win streak. The Bulldogs swept SEC foe Arkansas Easter weekend in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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