STARKVILLE — For eight months, the complete destruction and rebuild of Dudy Noble Field and Polk-DeMent Stadium was concealed from the public, limited to just construction workers and occasional practices for the Mississippi State baseball team, under particular circumstances.
Tuesday night, the updated college baseball haven and 2018 MSU baseball team was introduced to the public with Cowbell Yell, an annual preseason fan event. It was met with rave reviews from the crowd, which was the biggest MSU baseball’s Cowbell Yell has ever drawn.
“I think it’s amazing,” said Becca Flinbaugh, a senior at MSU. “I’m excited because students get to have nice seats.”
MSU opens play on the road Friday against Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
The season may start this week, but the wait to enjoy the new stadium for a game continues for nearly a full month: MSU doesn’t play a home game until March 6. After the three-game series at Southern Miss, it will play at Jackson State before three games in Corpus Christi, Texas, and two more midweek games before three games in Houston at Minute Maid Park, the home of the Houston Astros.
“I wish I would be able to see the team play here more this season,” Flinbaugh said.
Another fan at Cowbell Yell, Tyler Smith, added, “It will be different, for sure. You think it’s coming this weekend, but you have to wait.”
It’s all part of a diminished home schedule thanks to the ongoing construction at Dudy Noble Field. MSU will play 23 home games in 2018, a departure from the usual roughly 30. MSU scheduled accordingly so crews can continue working on the stadium during the season while the team is on the road, all working toward the new stadium being completed in time for opening day of the 2019 season.
This year, the stadium will seat only 9,000 — which is less than the old stadium’s seating capacity. But when the upper deck in the grandstands is added for the 2019 season, seating will surpass the old stadium’s capacity of roughly 15,000.
A solid team
Optimism for the upcoming season is easy to find both in the lineup and in the pitching staff. MSU coach Andy Cannizaro has raved about junior center fielder Jake Mangum, who won the Southeastern Conference batting title as a freshman and remained effective last year with a .324 batting average despite playing with a broken hand for nearly half of the season. In front of Mangum will be the double play combination of shortstop Luke Alexander and second baseman Hunter Stovall, which Cannizaro expects to be the best in the SEC and one of the best in the nation.
Junior starting pitcher Konnor Pilkington is expected to be the star on the mound, coming off of a sophomore season as one of the SEC’s best pitchers and a summer stint with the USA Baseball Collegiate Team. His help in the bullpen comes in the form of Riley Self, who was recently named to the watch list for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s Stopper of the Year Award, given to the nation’s best relief pitcher.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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