STARKVILLE, Miss. (Interstat) — The Mississippi State Bulldogs host the Auburn Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium in a Southeastern Conference series matchup. First pitch is set for later in the day under cloudy skies with a temperature of 67 degrees.

Mississippi State (38-12) enters with the better overall record and seeks to build on a 10-3 victory in Thursday’s series opener. Auburn (33-15) looks to even the series after Friday’s game ended without a score.

Players to watch

Auburn pitcher LJ Cormier has been inconsistent lately. In Thursday’s loss, he allowed three earned runs over 3 1/3 innings despite not surrendering a hit, striking out five. In his previous five outings, he posted a combined 0.00 ERA over 8 1/3 innings across four appearances, including two scoreless outings against Texas A&M and Oklahoma. He struck out five over two innings against Samford on April 21.

Mississippi State center fielder Bryce Chance is on a tear. He drove in five runs on a home run and three hits in Thursday’s win. Over his last 10 games, Chance is batting .364 (12-for-33) with two home runs and 11 RBIs, including multi-hit efforts in six of those contests. He has reached base safely in eight of his past nine games.

Series history

Mississippi State took the series opener 10-3 on Thursday. Friday’s game was scoreless and did not affect the series outcome. The Bulldogs have won four of their last five overall and are 8-2 in their past 10 games at home. Auburn has dropped three of its last four, with its only win in that stretch coming against UAB on May 5.

Projected outcome

The Interstat game simulator projects a 7-6 final score in favor of Mississippi State.

Upcoming schedules

Auburn travels to Jacksonville State on Tuesday before returning home to host Georgia for a three-game series starting May 14. Mississippi State visits Texas A&M for a three-game series beginning May 14.