Allen earns first team honors
STARKVILLE – With the 2021 college baseball season just eight days away, the final piece of the 2021 preseason awards picture was released by the Southeastern Conference on Thursday (Feb. 11). The Mississippi State baseball program was tabbed as one of the top contenders in the SEC and three student-athletes were named to the Preseason All-SEC squad.
Mississippi State was tabbed to finish second in the SEC Western Division and received one vote to walk away with the overall SEC championship. Just six points separated the top three teams in the west, as Ole Miss (78), Mississippi State (73) and Arkansas (72) were the top contenders in the division according to the 14 head coaches in the conference.
On the preseason all-conference team, second-year junior Tanner Allen earned one of three spots on the All-SEC first team in the outfield. Classmates Josh Hatcher and Rowdey Jordan garnered second-team honors at first base and in the outfield, respectively. State’s three preseason candidates are the third-most in the conference behind Arkansas (4) and Florida (4).
A first-team All-SEC selection in 2019 at first base, Allen enters the 2021 campaign nearing the 200-hit mark. Allen would be the 41st Diamond Dawg to reach that mark in program history and enters the year with 181 career hits. In 143 career games played, Allen ranks No. 26 on the career doubles charts (43) and No. 20 in career triples (7), while the left-handed hitter owns a .315 career batting average.
During the 2020 season, Allen saw action in eight games with seven starts and missed time with two separate injuries. The 2019 season was a career year for the Theodore, Alabama, native, as he hit .349 with seven home runs, 66 RBIs and 96 hits. His 23 doubles that season are tied for No. 8 in single season history at MSU.
The 2020 season was shaping up to the Hatcher’s best in the maroon and white, as he ended the year with a .311 batting average and started all 16 games at first base. The left-handed hitter had scored 10 runs and drive in nine RBIs. Hatcher was nearly halfway to career highs in multiple categories just a quarter into the year.
In 2019, Hatcher appeared in 45 games with 28 starts on his way to helping State reach the College World Series for the second straight season. He hit .321 with 21 RBIs and a .379 on-base percentage with most of his at-bats coming at designated hitter. He drove in 21 runs and scored 15 during his sophomore season.
A staple in the MSU order over the past three seasons, Jordan enters his fourth season on campus looking to boost his already impressive offensive numbers. A two-time NCAA Regional All-Tournament selection – including an MVP nod at the 2019 Starkville Regional – the switch hitter owns a career .304 batting average in 140 career games played.
He has amassed 111 runs scored to go along with 92 RBIs. Of his 156 career hits, 46have went for extra bases. The 2018 Freshman All-American owns a career .381 on-base percentage, which is supplemented by 13 career home runs.
2021 SEC Baseball Coaches Preseason All-SEC Team
First Team
C: Casey Opitz, Arkansas
1B: T.J. Collett, Kentucky
2B: Robert Moore, Arkansas
3B: Rankin Woley, Auburn
SS: Ryan Bliss, Auburn
OF: Jud Fabian, Florida
OF: Christian Franklin, Arkansas
OF: Tanner Allen, Mississippi State
DH/UTL: Matt Goodheart, Arkansas
SP: Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt
SP: Connor Prielipp, Alabama
RP: Devin Fontenot, LSU
Second Team
C: Hayden Dunhurst, Ole Miss
1B: Josh Hatcher, Mississippi State
2B: Max Ferguson, Tennessee
3B: Tim Elko, Ole Miss
SS: Josh Rivera, Florida
OF: Rowdey Jordan, Mississippi State
OF: Owen Diodati, Alabama
OF: Cade Beloso, LSU
DH/UTL: Wes Clarke, South Carolina
SP: Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt
SP: Tommy Mace, Florida
RP: Ben Specht, Florida