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Friday, 09 May 2008 |
 Bill Simmonds/For the SDN Ron Polk will lead Mississippi State into LSU's Alex Box Stadium one last time starting tonight. LSU is replacing Alex Box Stadium after this year, while Polk is stepping down as head baseball coach at season's end. By Aaron Seidlitz
Starkville Daily News
It's a trip Ron Polk has made countless times, but this will be his last.
Fittingly Mississippi State's legendary baseball coach of 29 years and LSU's Alex Box Stadium of 70 years are leaving the college baseball scene together in 2008.
Polk and the Bulldogs (20-29, 7-17) and LSU (32-16, 12-11-1) play the final regular-season series at Alex Box beginning tonight at 7 p.m.
"I always look forward to going their, and this time around I'll help close down Alex Box Stadium," Polk said. "I don't think there's been an opposing manager who's been there more than I have."
Over the course of his 29 years with the Bulldogs - and even his two years with Georgia - Polk has spent a considerable amount of time inside the confines of Alex Box Stadium.
So much so, that LSU is having Polk be a part of the ceremony at the stadium's final days. The MSU manager will be taking down one of the countdown numbers the school has displayed inside the stadium.
"(LSU's) Herb Vincent called me and I didn't even know what their countdown was," Polk said. "When he explained it to me, I told him it sounded like a great idea.
"I heard there's going to be plenty of festivities going on, and it'll be a fun trip for our kids - some of who haven't gone to Alex Box before."
But all ceremonies aside, Polk also stated that he's going "to win some ball games."
His Bulldogs are coming off a weekend in which they lost two of three to Auburn and split a mid-week series with Middle Tennessee State.
Polk included his usual laundry list of injuries during Thursday's SEC baseball teleconference. Brandon Turner is still out - now probably for the remainder of the season - while Polk is now expecting third basemen Connor Powers to be back possibly for the Arkansas series next weekend.
Catcher Cody Freeman will still be regulated to DH duties as his injury limits his ability to catch. Freshman outfielder Ryan Collins is going to be out for the rest of the season with a labrum tear.
While the lineup is still fighting through some injuries, the pitching staff is back.
Polk will throw Chad Crosswhite (2-4, 9.33 ERA) tonight against LSU’s Ryan Verdugo (7-2, 2.86). Saturday's pitching match up will be Ricky Bowen (3-5, 6.79) against Blake Martin (3-3, 5.05). Sunday the Bulldogs will throw lefty Justin Pigott (2-2, 4.42), while LSU manager Paul Mainieri has yet to decide his starter.
Polk and his staff are still deciding on how to best attack this LSU team, that has now won its last nine games - including two series sweeps over Kentucky and South Carolina.
"We've been putting some information together on them, but it's been tough just because we've been back from Middle Tennessee for only one day," Polk said. "But we have seen that they won three against Kentucky and even South Carolina, so they're probably pretty healthy and they have a lot of talented juniors on that team.
"We're just going to bring our young puppies down there and see if we can sneak out of there with a series win." |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 10 May 2008 )
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