Bednar and Sims make MSU one of four programs nationally with multiple student-athletes on midseason player of the year watch list
STARKVILLE – The 2021 midseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award features a pair of Mississippi State baseball student-athletes in second-year freshmen Will Bednar and Landon Sims.
State is one of four programs nationally with multiple student-athletes on the list and it marks the second-straight season MSU has multiple representatives on the midseason ledger. Bednar and Sims join Jake Mangum and Ethan Small from 2019 as the only MSU tandems to earn a nod to the midseason list for the award.
Since 1978, USA Baseball has honored the top amateur baseball player in the country with the Golden Spikes Award. The midseason watch list features 45 of the nation’s top amateur players from the high school and college ranks with the semifinalists announced June 8.
Bednar has made a statement over his first seven appearances this season, including four solid starts in SEC play. The right-hander owns a 2-0 record and has allowed just 18 hits and four walks in 30 innings of work on the mound. He has fanned 48 batters, including 10 in each of his first two SEC starts. Bednar’s ERA sits at 2.10 and opponents are hitting just .171 against the Valencia, Pennsylvania, native.
After four perfect innings of relief in the season opener against No. 9 Texas, Sims has continued to push his name into the ranks of the best bullpen arms in college baseball. Of his 64 outs recorded, 43 have come via strikeout. Over his 21 1/3 innings of work, Sims has allowed just one run of his own and stranded five of six inherited runners. The opposition is hitting just .137 against the right-hander and he owns a 2-0 record to go along with three saves.
Riding an eight-game winning streak into the weekend, No. 2 Mississippi State will play host to No. 6 Ole Miss for a three-game series at Dudy Noble Field. The series begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 16 and air live on the SEC Network.