The No. 10-ranked Andalusia Bulldogs know what’s at stake and are prepared to take on the Mumford Lions in the first round of the 2017 AHSAA Class 4A state baseball playoffs today in Andalusia.

“This has been one of our goals from the beginning of the season,” Andalusia head baseball coach Tyler Dent said. “It was something that we built up all season, and our goal was to host a first round playoff game.”

Dent said that the guys are ready to take on Mumford.

“They are really excited,” Dent said. “We have been building up the playoffs all year and now they are just excited to have the opportunity to compete at home in the first round.”

Andalusia comes into the game with a 17-10 overall record and Area 3 champions.

Mumford comes in with a 15-15 overall record and finished as runner up in Area 8.

Dent said that he hadn’t seen Mumford play in person, but has heard things about them from others in the state.

“I’ve talked to coaches and people from all over the state, and they have all said pretty much the same thing about Mumford,” Dent said. “They are well coached; they play solid defense and they throw a lot of strikes. That adds up to a solid baseball team and that is what we are expecting to see from them when he hit the field on Friday.”

Over the past few weeks, the Bulldogs have really been led by their bats and pitching, and that’s a trend that Dent said he expects to continue.

“I have confidence in our pitching staff to go out there and compete,” Dent said. “Offensively, I feel like we have been doing some really good things, and I expect that to continue into the playoffs.”

For the Bulldogs to find success, Dent said they must limit the extra opportunities they give Mumford.

“We have to limit the free outs on walks and errors,” Dent said. “Just do the things to keep the momentum on our side.”

Game one of today’s double header begins at 4 p.m. Game two will begin around 6 p.m.