STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State team that takes the field on Feb. 14 against Manhattan will barely resemble the 2024 Bulldogs that returned to the NCAA Tournament after a two-year absence and lost in the regional final to Virginia.
MSU’s entire 2024 opening weekend rotation was selected in the MLB Draft, and five starting position players were either drafted or exhausted their eligibility. Such is the state of college sports in the 2020s, and head coach Chris Lemonis echoed a line often used by Bulldog men’s basketball head coach Chris Jans.
“This day and age, it’s more about building a great team year to year,” Lemonis said. “It used to be we’d always say we’re building a great program. But the transition is so big right now. We had three sophomore-eligible guys sign (with MLB teams) last year. That dynamic changes everything.”
Eleven players from the 2024 MSU roster were drafted, more than any other school. But the Bulldogs do still get back two key starters who were draft-eligible — slugging first baseman Hunter Hines was surprisingly not picked and will return for his senior season, and outfielder Bryce Chance is back for his junior year after taking over the leadoff spot down the stretch.
Catcher Joe Powell is also back for his final year of eligibility after heating up late last spring. He is part of a deep group of backstops including Ross Highfill, who missed almost all of last season with injuries but started in 2023; Jackson Owen, who redshirted last year following two seasons at the junior college level; and Steven Spalitta, who made eight appearances with three starts as a freshman.
Lemonis said Owen has been crushing the ball during the team’s scrimmages so far. Highfill is now dealing with a hamstring injury that he sustained the day before MSU started fall practice.
“He’s close, and he’s probably going to catch here in the next week or so,” Lemonis said. “Joe Powell is better than he was this time last year. He’s comfortable, can really receive, swinging it well. And Jackson Owen is probably the most improved guy on the team right now. He took a lot of things personally, redshirted last year.”
The Bulldogs added seven newcomers in the transfer portal over the summer, mostly players who put up excellent numbers in weaker conferences like infielder Gehrig Frei (North Alabama), shortstop Sawyer Reeves (The Citadel), two-way player Noah Sullivan (South Carolina Upstate) and pitcher Jacob Pruitt (Indiana State).
MSU also picked up Ace Reese, who made the Big 12 All-Freshman Team last year at Houston. To bolster the pitching staff, the Bulldogs landed Kentucky starter Travis Smith and Virginia reliever Chase Hungate, who closed out the regional final with a scoreless ninth inning against MSU in June.
Left-hander Pico Kohn is the Bulldogs’ only returning starting pitcher, and he only joined the rotation late last season. Lemonis is high on Karson Ligon, who struggled in his first season at MSU last year after transferring from Miami and pitched in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League over the summer.
“The Picos and the Karsons, they know what they’re getting now,” Lemonis said. “Last fall, it was such a big jump. We knew if we could just get our guys in house pitching well, we could make a jump, and now that (pitching coach Justin Parker) has had one year, all those returners, you’re just adding onto it each time and developing pitchers to have a real edge.”
The Bulldogs will hold intrasquad scrimmages at Dudy Noble Field throughout October, culminating with the annual Fall World Series in early November. Their only fall exhibition against another team will be at UAB on Oct. 12.
Lemonis entered 2024 firmly on the hot seat after two seasons without postseason baseball that followed the 2021 national championship, but MSU won 40 games and finished fifth in the Southeastern Conference. Still, the Bulldogs dropped a few early non-conference games that likely cost them the chance to host an NCAA regional.
“We talked about accountability and being consistent every day,” Lemonis said. “When Mississippi State loses midweek games, most of those are because we don’t show up. You’re not the underdog many times in those games. It’s having the right mentality. It’s about being consistent, coming out with a consistent approach and a consistent focus each day. You start that now with the way you practice.”
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