Allen, Sims are second Mississippi State duo to be named semifinalists in the same season
STARKVILLE – For the second straight awards cycle, the Mississippi State baseball program will have a pair of semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, presented by USA Baseball in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation. The Diamond Dawg duo of Tanner Allen and Landon Sims are among the 25 semifinalists announced on Tuesday (June 8).
Mississippi State’s history with the Golden Spikes Award began in 1984, when Rafael Palmeiro was named a finalist for the award. In 1985, Will Clark produced the only Golden Spikes Award-winning season in program history.
Since the award began naming semifinalists in 2007, only five other Diamond Dawgs have been named semifinalists for the award. Jake Mangum (2019), Ethan Small (2019), Dakota Hudson (2016), Brent Rooker (2017) and Chris Stratton (2012) have each earned the semifinalist distinction, with Rooker being named just the third finalist in program history, along with Clark and Palmeiro.
Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2021. Beginning with the semifinalist announcement and continuing through the finalist round voting deadline on Tuesday, June 15, fans from across the country will be able to vote for their favorite player on GoldenSpikesAward.com.
The finalists will then be announced on June 24, with the winner of the 43rd Golden Spikes Award named in July. Mississippi State joins Vanderbilt and East Carolina as the only programs with multiple semifinalists on the 2021 Golden Spikes Award list.
The SEC Player of the Year, Allen has been at his best against the best in college baseball, as the left-handed hitter leads the SEC in batting average overall (.395) and paced the conference in SEC games only games (.411). Allen produced 28 multi-hit games and 18 multi-RBI contests this season and reached base multiple times in 40 of 57 starts. Allen was the only SEC student-athlete to rank among the top-10 in average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage and also sits among the top 10 in the conference in runs scored, RBIs, total bases and hits during the regular season.
In SEC play, Allen hit .300-or-better against eight of 10 SEC opponents, including a .400 average against Auburn, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M. He hit .500 against Missouri and .615 in three games at South Carolina. In conference play, Allen was on base in 29 of 30 games with a league-best 17 multi-hit contests and 12 multi-RBI games. Allen was one of two Power 5 hitters – and one of four nationally – with at least 50 runs scored, 70 hits and 50 RBIs in the regular season.
At the NCAA Starkville Regional, Allen produced three multi-hit games and owned a team-best .583 batting average with four runs scored and four RBIs. He walked three times for a .667 on-base percentage to help MSU reach its fifth straight NCAA Super Regional.
Sims started the season with a monster outing against then-No. 9 Texas in the season opener with four perfect innings of relief and 10 strikeouts and did not slow down as one of the dominant bullpen aces in the nation. Overall, Sims owns a 1.34 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 78 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings of work. His 3-0 record is bolstered by nine saves, with two wins and five saves coming against ranked opponents. Of his 121 outs recorded, 64% have come via strikeout and he has not hit a batter all season.
Of his 19 appearances, Sims has not allowed a run of his own in 16 of those, has stranded five of eight inherited runners on the season and held opponents to one-or-fewer base runners in nine of the appearances. He has factored into 12 decisions in his 19 appearances and Mississippi State has won 17 games he has pitched in.
In SEC play, Sims owned 12 appearances with a 0.36 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings of work. He allowed only one run on nine hits with nine walks in SEC appearances and held hitters to a .108 batting average. Only one hit went for extra bases in SEC play, and he was 2-0 with seven saves against conference opponents.