STARKVILLE — Mississippi State junior catcher Katie Anne Bailey said her team’s recent West Coast road trip would be a good barometer for the start of Southeastern Conference play.

Hopefully, the Bulldogs will fare a little bit better.

After a blistering start that led to a national ranking in one poll, the Bulldogs limped to a 1-3 finish on a road trip full of California powers.

MSU (18-6, 0-0 SEC) will try to change that momentum at 6 p.m. today when No. 3 Auburn (24-3, 1-2 SEC) visits Nusz Park in Game 1 of a three-game weekend series. The teams also will play at 2 p.m. Saturday and at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. However, rain forecast for today could alter that schedule.

“You can’t let one game or one weekend define your season,” Bailey said. “Now that we are in the grind of conference play, you have to keep going, You have to work the process and treat each game likes it a new day at the ballpark.”

MSU defeated UC Santa Barbara 5-2 in its first game at the Louisville Slugger Invitational in Long Beach, California. It then lost to Cal State Fullerton 2-0 and 3-2 losses and to Long Beach State 5-1.

“Run production was difficult for us all weekend,” MSU coach Vann Stuedeman said. “It was really a chance for some of our young pitchers to grow. Overall, we did a lot of things well, but we couldn’t put together the big inning.

“There are some areas where we wish we were better going into league play. However, we are to that place in the calendar, so its time to get started. Fortunately, we start at home.”

For MSU will have to have some success in the SEC to make a fifth-straight NCAA tournament regional appearance. The league schedule is daunting at best. Of the eight conference foes, Ole Miss is the only unranked opponent. The Rebels are off to the best start in program history at 23-5. Auburn (3), Tennessee (16), Alabama (6), LSU (4), Florida (1), Missouri (17), and Kentucky (15) are ranked.

“We are excited about playing at home in front of our fans and getting conference play started,” MSU junior third baseman Caroline Seitz said. “We know the things we have to work on to keep getting better as a team. You can’t really get caught up in who you are playing. You have to focus on the process and making sure you have good at-bats.

“The biggest thing is we have to take better advantage of our scoring chances. We are excited about competing.”

Auburn opened conference play last weekend by dropping two of three games to No. 1 Florida. The Tigers are third in the conference with a .378 batting average. Auburn leads the nation with an average of 10.5 runs scored per game. By comparison, MSU is averaging 4.7 rpg. and is last in the league in batting average (.289).

“Auburn has one of the best offenses in the league,” Stuedeman said. “On defense, they led the nation in double plays last year. We will have to earn everything we get.”

On the plus side, MSU has worked junior Alexis Silkwood back into the regular pitching rotation. Stuedeman gave Silkwood a reduced workload early in the season so she would be more effective down the stretch run of the season.

Silkwood drew a pair of two-inning starts before throwing a complete game in the 3-2 loss to Fullerton.

The Bulldogs also expect a big boost at the box office with the women’s basketball team playing host to the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament at Humphrey Coliseum. The MSU women play today prior to the softball team’s game. A win today would mean they would play Sunday. The start time for the second-round game hasn’t been determined.

“It’s a big weekend on our campus,” Stuedeman said. “Hopefully, we can give our fans something to cheer.”

Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott

Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.