Jake Mangum is the first freshman in MSU history to win the SEC batting title.
Photo by: HailState.com
Jake Mangum Caps Stellar Freshman Year with SEC Batting Crown
June 29, 2016 | Baseball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – As the college baseball season comes to a close, outstanding Mississippi State freshman outfielder Jake Mangum becomes the second Bulldog in three years to be named the Southeastern Conference's Batting Champion, recording a league-high .408 batting average during the 2016 season.
Mangum is the first Bulldog to take home the award since Brett Pirtle captured it in 2014 while posting a .363 batting average. Mangum's .408 single-season average stands seventh in school history, ousting Rafael Palmeiro's .406 batting average during his rookie campaign in 1983.
Mangum is the first freshman to take home the honor since Aaron Westlake of Vanderbilt did so in 2009. Of the seven previous Diamond Dawgs to win the league's batting crown, Mangum is the first freshman in school history.
The honor is just another in a long list of accolades for the true freshman. Mangum has been named to seven All-America lists so far in 2016 (First Team NCBWA Freshman, Second Team NCBWA, Third Team Baseball America, Louisville Slugger Freshman Team, Third Team ABCA/Rawlings, First Team Baseball America Freshman, and First Team Perfect Game Freshman) and was also named MSU's first SEC Freshman of the Year in May by the league office.
Mangum became the first freshman to be named All-SEC First Team since Rafael Palmeiro in 1983. He also won the C Spire Ferriss Trophy, given to the best collegiate baseball player in the state of Mississippi. The Pearl, Mississippi native is the only freshman ever to receive the honor.
Mangum is currently playing summer ball in the prestigious Cape Cod baseball league for the Bourne Braves, where he is hitting .359 through nine games.
Mangum is the first Bulldog to take home the award since Brett Pirtle captured it in 2014 while posting a .363 batting average. Mangum's .408 single-season average stands seventh in school history, ousting Rafael Palmeiro's .406 batting average during his rookie campaign in 1983.
Mangum is the first freshman to take home the honor since Aaron Westlake of Vanderbilt did so in 2009. Of the seven previous Diamond Dawgs to win the league's batting crown, Mangum is the first freshman in school history.
The honor is just another in a long list of accolades for the true freshman. Mangum has been named to seven All-America lists so far in 2016 (First Team NCBWA Freshman, Second Team NCBWA, Third Team Baseball America, Louisville Slugger Freshman Team, Third Team ABCA/Rawlings, First Team Baseball America Freshman, and First Team Perfect Game Freshman) and was also named MSU's first SEC Freshman of the Year in May by the league office.
Mangum became the first freshman to be named All-SEC First Team since Rafael Palmeiro in 1983. He also won the C Spire Ferriss Trophy, given to the best collegiate baseball player in the state of Mississippi. The Pearl, Mississippi native is the only freshman ever to receive the honor.
Mangum is currently playing summer ball in the prestigious Cape Cod baseball league for the Bourne Braves, where he is hitting .359 through nine games.
Players Mentioned
OF/LHP
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