D1Baseball Tabs Baseball Newcomers No. 6 Entering 2020

Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics

D1Baseball Tabs Baseball Newcomers No. 6 Entering 2020

December 20, 2019 | Baseball

2019 Schedule Baseball Tickets D1Baseball Recruiting Rankings

Diamond Dawgs tabbed as top-10 recruiting class by third publication for 2020 rookies

by: Greg Campbell, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – As the first day of winter arrives on the calendar, Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis and his staff added another recruiting honor, this time with the No. 6 ranking from D1Baseball for its 2019 class, which just completed its first semester on campus.

It is the third top-10 ranking for State's talented crop of newcomers, as the group also received a No. 6 ranking from Baseball America, sat as the No. 7 class according to Perfect Game and earned a No. 17 distinction from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.

Lemonis and his staff – including assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Jake Gautreau, and assistant coaches Scott Foxhall and Kyle Cheesebrough – have produced back-to-back top-10 classes after earning a top-5 ranking last season, as well.

Twenty-two newcomers, including 13 freshmen, seven junior college transfers and two four-year college graduate transfers, will look to fill a variety of roles once as the 2020 season approaches. The class includes student-athletes from 10 different states, with 10 pitchers, four two-way prospects and eight position players added to the roster.

Of the 13 freshmen, 11 of them earned at least one all-state honor in their careers, six sat among Baseball America's final Top 500 for the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft and three were among D1Baseabll's 2019 Top 100 High School MLB Prospects: Landon Sims (No. 13), KC Hunt (No. 25) and Logan Tanner (No. 47).

Among the eight junior college transfers, Brandon Pimentel and Houston Harding each earned National Junior College Athletic Association All-America honors. Jared Shemper was selected to NJCAA USA National Team in 2018 and competed at the National Baseball Congress World Series. Four-year transfers David Dunlavey and Carlisle Koestler will also add depth to the pitching staff, as each pitched in the weekend rotations at their previous stops.

2019 D1Baseball Recruiting Class Rankings
1. Florida
2. Vanderbilt
3. Oklahoma State
4. Ole Miss
5. TCU
6. Mississippi State
7. Maryland
8. Arizona State
9. South Carolina
10. Virginia
11. Georgia
12. LSU
13. Clemson
14. Georgia Tech
15. Texas
16. BYU
17. Cal
18. Auburn
19. Alabama
20. North Carolina
21. Arkansas
22. Texas Tech
23. UCLA
24. Miami (Fla.)
25. North Carolina State