STARKVILLE – Mississippi State is a consensus top 10 team entering the 2021 season after the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association tabbed the Diamond Dawgs as No. 7 in the publication’s preseason poll on Tuesday (March 2).
State also owns top 10 rankings from Baseball America (No. 8), Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (No. 9) and D1Baseball (No. 7). Perfect Game also has MSU in its top 25 poll at No. 12.
Keep up with all of the preseason news, notes, rankings and awards at the 2021 Diamond Dawgs Preseason Central.
For the fourth straight season and eight of the last nine years, Mississippi State is among the NCBWA’s preseason rankings. The No. 7 ranking is the second highest preseason ranking by the publication in program history, just behind the 2014 squad (No. 4). Since 2002, Mississippi State had been a part of 13 of the NCBWA’s 20 preseason polls.
The poll includes eight other SEC teams, led by preseason No. 1 Florida, No. 3 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Ole Miss and No. 8 Arkansas, giving the conference five of the top 10 teams entering the season. LSU (No. 13), Tennessee (No. 20), South Carolina (No. 23), Georgia (No. 24) and Auburn (No. 25) give the SEC 10 of the top 25 teams, the most among any conference in college baseball. The ACC (6) and Big 12 (5) are next among the conferences in total teams ranked.
Mississippi State will begin the season at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field, the home of the Texas Rangers. State will square off against three ranked foes in No. 9 Texas, No. 11 TCU and No. 4 Texas Tech, with the season opener against the Longhorns at 11 a.m. on Friday, February 19.
The 2020 season featured a 12-4 record prior to the abrupt end due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included a pair victories over No. 2 Texas A&M, along with two wins over perineal power Oregon State at Dudy Noble Field.
Head coach Chris Lemonis enters his third season after posting the most victories (52) by a first-year SEC head coach in the conference’s history during the 2019 season. State has finished among the top-10 nationally in each of his first two seasons, along with a top-10 showing in the final 2018 poll, to mark the first time in program history MSU finished three straight seasons among the 10 best teams in college baseball.
The 2021 roster features a mix of experienced returners and a talented crop of newcomers. The junior trio of Tanner Allen, Josh Hatcher and Rowdey Jordan will look to lead the MSU offense, while second-year freshmen Kamren James and Logan Tanner look to build off of successful first seasons in the maroon and white. Graduate transfer Scotty Dubrule joins the program after four record-setting seasons at Jacksonville, entering the season among the top active hitters in the NCAA in hits (249), games played (197) and runs scored (138).
On the mound, graduates Spencer Price and Riley Self, along with second-year freshman Landon Sims will anchor the bullpen behind what is projected to be a stacked starting rotation. The trio of Will Bednar, Eric Cerantola and Christian MacLeod are each ranked among the nation’s top 50 draft prospects, and junior Houston Harding emerged as a solid starting option on the mound at the end of the 2020 campaign.
The 2020 and 2019 campaigns ended with MSU pitcher earning National Freshman of the Year accolades, as JT Ginn and MacLeod each brought home the honor from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. The Diamond Dawgs are coming off of back-to-back trips to the College World Series in 2018 and 2019 and a share of the 2019 SEC West Division crown.