No. 5 Mississippi State has started the 2013 season off at 5-0.

But the Bulldogs will face their toughest test this weekend hosting Purdue and Samford as part of the Diamond Classic at Dudy Noble Field. All three teams in the round robin tournament were part of NCAA Regionals last year.

The Diamond Classic gets started this afternoon with Purdue and Samford squaring off at 2:30 p.m. and MSU taking on the Boilermakers in the nightcap at 6 p.m. State will play Samford at 3 p.m. Saturday followed by another game against Purdue at 6 p.m. The tournament will conclude Sunday with Samford and Purdue meeting once again at 11 a.m. and Mississippi State meeting Samford at 2:30 p.m.

MSU leads the all-time series against Purdue 2-0 with the Diamond Dogs sweeping a series in Starkville back in 1936. The last time the Boilermakers played at Dudy Noble Field was part of the 1987 NCAA Regional losing to Texas A&M and Western Carolina.

State is 3-2 all-time against Samford. It was Samford who eliminated Mississippi State from postseason play last year in the Tallahassee Regional winning both games by scores of 5-0 and 3-2.

MSU swept a four-game series against Portland last weekend by a combined score of 31-3 and shutout Grambling State 2-0 in midweek action on Tuesday.



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