| Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball | |
| Founded: | 1885 |
| Current: | 2024 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team |
| University: | Mississippi State University |
| Athletic Director: | Zac Selmon |
| Conference: | SEC |
| Location: | Mississippi State, Mississippi |
| Coach: | Chris Lemonis |
| Tenure: | 6th |
| Stadium: | Dudy Noble Field |
| Capacity: | 15,500 |
| Nickname: | Bulldogs |
| Record: | 2,812–1,656–29 |
| Nat Champ: | 2021 |
| Runner Up: | 2013 |
| Cws: | 1971, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1990, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2021 |
| Regional Champ: | 1979, 1981, 1985, 1990, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 |
| Ncaa Tourneys: | 1949, 1953, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2024 |
| Conference Tournament: | 1979, 1985, 1987, 1990, 2001, 2005, 2012 |
| Conference Champion: | 1909, 1911, 1918, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1948, 1949, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1979, 1985, 1987, 1989, 2016 |
The Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team representing Mississippi State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The program is a member of the West Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The current head coach is Chris Lemonis. They have appeared in the College World Series 12 times, winning their first national championship in their most recent appearance in 2021.
Mississippi State has won 11 SEC Championships in 1948, 1949, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1979, 1985, 1987, 1989, and 2016. The first six were won in a playoff series (with the first two being best-of-five while the rest were a best-of-three series). Since the formation of the SEC Tournament in 1977, the Bulldogs have won it seven times, in 1979, 1985, 1987, 1990, 2001, 2005, and 2012. The seven tournament championships and six playoff championships are a total of 13 SEC postseason championships, the most of any school.
Prior to the formation of the SEC, the program won the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship in 1909, 1911, 1918, 1921, and 1922 as well as the Southern Conference title in 1924.
The program has also appeared in 34 NCAA Regionals and 12 College World Series. Out of its 12 College World Series trips, the program has appeared in two national championship series (2013 and 2021). Eight years after finishing as runner-up to the UCLA Bruins in 2013, the Mississippi State Bulldogs returned to the national championship series when on June 30, 2021, the club defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores with a score of 9–0 to finally secure its first National Championship title, which serves as the first national championship in a team-sport in school history. This 2021 National Championship was earned in a third consecutive trip to the College World Series (2018, 2019, 2021).
A Bulldogs pitcher was selected in the first round of the MLB draft 6 times.[1]
See main article: Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium.
The Bulldogs play their home games at Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium. Dubbed the "Carnegie Hall of College Baseball" by Nelle Cohen, wife of former MSU skipper and current Auburn Athletic Director John Cohen,[2] it was the host site of the first SEC tournament and holds the NCAA baseball on-campus attendance record of 16,423 spectators, set in a game against the University of Mississippi on April 15, 2023.[3] The stadium has hosted 23 of the top 25 largest crowds to attend an on-campus college baseball game, which the top 10 belong solely to Mississippi State.[1] [4] [5] In 2013, Paul Swaney of Stadium Journey ranked it as the number one collegiate ballpark.[6] One of the venue's most prominent features is the Left Field Lounge, an outfield area where spectators can gather and enjoy the games in a tailgate setting, including stands built on top of old pick-up trucks and trailers.[7] [8] [9] [10]
In 2005, the Palmeiro Center, a 68000square feet indoor practice facility, was built next to Dudy Noble. The facility, made possible by a gift from program alumnus Rafael Palmeiro and his wife Lynne, features an infield practice area, additional training area, and three batting cages. A baseball coaches' office complex located between the Palmeiro Center and Dudy Noble Field was also built in 2005. The complex, which includes a baseball heritage room, was made possible by contributions from former Bulldog players Jeff Brantley, Will Clark, Eric DuBose, Paul Maholm, Jay Powell and Bobby Thigpen, along with sports agent and former Bulldog manager Bo McKinnis.[11]
The program has set many attendance records at Dudy Noble Field. SEC and Super Regional weekend games usually draw the largest crowds to Dudy Noble Field. Mississippi State currently holds the NCAA record for the largest single game on-campus baseball attendance at 15,586 and the largest regular season crowd for a 3-game weekend series at 39,181. In 2021, in a Super Regional against Notre Dame, Mississippi State set NCAA attendance records for Super Regional games with 14,385 and 13,971 fans and a record total for a 3-game series of 40,140.[12] [13] More than 5 million spectators have attended games at the venue since the university started tracking attendance numbers in 1976.[4] [14] Mississippi State holds all of the top 10 and 23 of the top 25 on-campus crowds in college baseball history, including 14 crowds of over 12,000 and 42 crowds of over 10,000.
Shown below are the 10 largest home crowds in Mississippi State history. Note that nine of these crowds are among the NCAA's 10 largest ever on-campus crowds.[15]
| Rank | Attendance | Opponent | Date | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16,423 | Mississippi | April 15, 2023 | NCAA On-Campus Record | |
| 2 | 15,586 | Mississippi | April 12, 2014 |
| |
| 3 | 15,078 | Texas A&M | April 16, 2016 |
| |
| 4 | 14,991 | Florida | April 22, 1989 |
| |
| 5 | 14,739 | Mississippi | April 14, 2023 |
| |
| 6 | 14,562 | Auburn | April 20, 2013 |
| |
| 7 | 14,385 | Notre Dame | June 12, 2021 |
| |
| 8 | 14,378 | LSU | April 16, 1988 |
|
| Year | Player | Pick | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Del Unser | 18 | Washington Senators | |
| 1985 | Rafael Palmeiro | 22 | Chicago Cubs via Padres | |
| 1985 | Will Clark | 2 | San Francisco Giants | |
| 1992 | B.J. Wallace | 3 | Montreal Expos | |
| 1993 | Jay Powell | 19 | Baltimore Orioles | |
| 1994 | Carlton Loewer | 23 | Philadelphia Phillies | |
| 1997 | Eric Dubose | 21 | Oakland Athletics via Orioles | |
| 1999 | Matt Ginter | 22 | Chicago White Sox via Mets | |
| 2003 | Paul Maholm | 8 | Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| 2007 | Ed Easley | 61* | Arizona Diamondbacks | |
| 2012 | Chris Stratton | 20 | San Francisco Giants | |
| 2013 | Hunter Renfroe | 13 | San Diego Padres | |
| 2016 | Dakota Hudson | 34 | St. Louis Cardinals | |
| 2017 | Brent Rooker | 35** | Minnesota Twins | |
| 2019 | Ethan Small | 28 | Milwaukee Brewers | |
| 2020 | Justin Foscue | 14 | Texas Rangers | |
| 2020 | Jordan Westburg | 30 | Baltimore Orioles | |
| 2021 | Will Bednar | 14 | San Francisco Giants | |
| 2022 | Landon Sims | 34*** | Arizona Diamondbacks | |
| 2024 | Jurrangelo Cijntje | 15 | Seattle Mariners |
*** Taken in the Competitive Balance 1st round in the 2022 MLB Draft
| Player | Position | Year(s) | Selectors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Del Unser | Outfield | 1966 | SN |
| Philip Still | Third Base | 1971† | ABCA |
| Nat "Buck" Showalter | Outfield | 1977† | ABCA |
| Mike Kelly | Outfield | 1979† | ABCA |
| Mark Gillaspie | Outfield | 1981† | ABCA |
| Rafael Palmeiro | First Base | 1983, 1984†, 1985 | BA, ABCA, SN |
| Will Clark | First Base | 1984, 1985† | SN, BA, ABCA |
| Jeff Brantley | Pitcher | 1985† | ABCA, BA |
| Pete Young | Utility player | 1989† | ABCA |
| Gary Rath | Pitcher | 1994† | ABCA, BA |
| Brian Wiese | Utility player | 1998 | NCBWA |
| Brad Corley | Outfield | 2004 | BA |
| Edward Easley | Catcher | 2010† | ABCA |
| Chris Stratton | Pitcher | 2012† | ABCA, BA, CB, NCBWA |
| Jonathan Holder | Pitcher | 2013 | CB, NCBWA |
| Hunter Renfroe | Outfield | 2013† | ABCA, BA, CB, NCBWA |
| Jacob Lindgren | Pitcher | 2014 | BA |
| Brent Rooker | First Base | 2017† | ABCA, BA, CB, NCBWA |
| Ethan Small | Pitcher | 2019† | ABCA, BA, NCBWA |
| Jake Mangum | Outfielder | 2019 | CB, NCBWA |
| Tanner Allen | Outfielder | 2021† | ABCA, BA, CB, NCBWA |
| Source:Web site: SEC All-Americas . secsports.com . 2008-07-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080528091246/http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=0&url_article_id=1782&change_well_id=2 . 2008-05-28 . dead . ABCA: American Baseball Coaches AssociationBA: Baseball AmericaCB: Collegiate BaseballNCBWA: National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association† Denotes consensus All-American | |||
2019 Class
2020 Class
2021 Class
2022 Class
2023 Class
2024 Class
Rafael Palmeiro (1983)[16]
Will Clark (1985)[17]
Brent Rooker (2017)[20]
Gary Henderson (2018)[21]
Gary Henderson (2018)[22]
Chris Lemonis (2021)[23]
Only those who coached 3 or more seasons and 30 or more games.[24]
| Coach | Years | Overall | % | Conf | % | SECT | % | NCAA Post Season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | % | Super Reg | % | CWS | % | |||||||||
| W. D. Chadwick | 1910–1918 | |||||||||||||
| C.R."Dudy"Noble | 1920–1947 | |||||||||||||
| R."Doc"Patty | 1948–1956 | |||||||||||||
| Paul Gregory | 1957–1974 | .000 | ||||||||||||
| Ron Polk | 1976–1997 2002–2008 | 1.00 | ||||||||||||
| Pat McMahon | 1998–2001 | .000 | ||||||||||||
| John Cohen | 2009–2016 | 18–11 | ||||||||||||
| Chris Lemonis | 2019–present | 18–7 | ||||||||||||
[25]
†NCAA canceled all postseason activities for all college sports due to the COVID-19 virus.
| Year | Coach | W | L | SEC Champ | SECT Champ | Postseason Result | CWS Final Rank | CWS record | Total Postseason Record† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Ron Polk | 50 | 15 | ✔ | ✔ | College World Series | 3rd | 2–2 | 5–3 | |
| 1989 | Ron Polk | 54 | 14 | ✔ | Regionals | N/A | N/A | 4–2 | ||
| 1990 | Ron Polk | 50 | 21 | ✔ | College World Series | 5th | 1–2 | 5–3 | ||
| 2013 | John Cohen | 51 | 20 | College World Series Runner-Up | 2nd | 3–2 | 8–3 | |||
| 2019 | Chris Lemonis | 52 | 15 | †† | College World Series | T-5th | 1–2 | 6–2 | ||
| 2021 | Chris Lemonis | 50 | 18 | College World Series Champions | 1st | 5–2 | 10–3 |
† Does not include SEC Tourney Record
†† Division Champ
| 208 | 217 | 4 | 1896 | 2024 | ||
| 58 | 61 | 0 | 1960 | 2024 | ||
| 119 | 96 | 1 | 1908 | 2024 | ||
| 51 | 71 | 0 | 1923 | 2024 | ||
| 53 | 51 | 0 | 1915 | 2024 | ||
| 65 | 44 | 0 | 1925 | 2023 | ||
| 220 | 191 | 0 | 1907 | 2024 | ||
| 13 | 7 | 0 | 2003 | 2024 | ||
| 267 | 213 | 5 | 1893 | 2024 | ||
| 39 | 42 | 0 | 1981 | 2023 | ||
| 60 | 37 | 0 | 1907 | 2024 | ||
| 24 | 22 | 0 | 1907 | 2024 | ||
| 76 | 58 | 2 | 1913 | 2024 | ||
See main article: Mississippi State–Ole Miss baseball rivalry. In baseball, MSU has two main rivals, LSU and Ole Miss.
Against LSU, the Bulldogs hold a 216–185 all-time series lead over LSU in a series that got its start in 1907.
Against Ole Miss, Mississippi State leads the series 259–208–5. Retired Mississippi State head baseball coach, Ron Polk, was 85–49 against Ole Miss. John Cohen, MSU's former coach, was 8–11 in SEC Conference games and 11–17 overall against Ole Miss. Andy Cannizaro was 4–0 against Ole Miss in 2017. Gary Henderson was 3–1 against Mississippi in 2018, while MSU's current coach Chris Lemonis has a 6–1 mark. The two teams play a 3-game series each year that counts in the SEC standings and one non-conference game in Jackson, MS. The game in Jackson was called the Mayor's Trophy from 1980 to 2006, and from 2007 to present the game has been called the Governor's Cup. The Mayor's Trophy series ended 14–13 in favor of the Rebels. With the 2007 season, the non-conference meeting between the two teams moved to Trustmark Park in Pearl, Mississippi – which is the home to the Mississippi Braves. Mississippi State holds the lead in the Governor's Cup 9–4.
