Senior Feature: Elijah MacNamee

by: Megan Fisher, Student Assistant/Communications

Just outside of Houston, Texas, a dream began for Mississippi State baseball senior student-athlete Elijah MacNamee. As a six-year-old playing with kids two and three years his senior, the talent was obvious. A two-sport athlete growing up, MacNamee chose to give up football during his sophomore year of high school to focus on the game he loved…baseball.

MacNamee remembers spending one of his early birthdays at a Houston Astros game, where he got to meet and watch some of his favorite MLB players. This is where the dream was born.

"When you are younger, everything seems bigger." MacNamee said. "I thought [Major League Baseball] was the coolest thing ever."

The journey to Mississippi State was a unique one for MacNamee, one that almost didn't happen.

Coming out of high school, MacNamee received few offers to play college baseball, but he eventually went the junior college route, landing at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas.

His ultimate goal was to play in the Southeastern Conference, and he believed Blinn was the best way to reach that goal. It worked out, as he received an offer and was set to attend Texas A&M University. That is, until he received a call from now athletic director and then head coach, John Cohen, who asked if he would be interested in playing for the Bulldogs.

For a person that believes it is always best to keep your options open, MacNamee made the trip to Starkville, Mississippi. On the weekend he visited Starkville, the 2016 Bulldogs swept Arkansas to win the SEC regular season championship. It was the first time he witnessed the thousands of faithful Bulldog fans live and in-person. It was then, sitting in the stands of Dudy Noble Field, that MacNamee looked at his dad and realized he had a decision to make.

"I picked Mississippi State, and I fell in love," MacNamee said. "It was the best decision I ever made."

MacNamee hasn't looked back since and has become a fan favorite over the last three years, especially last season when he became the hero of the postseason in an unlikely run to Omaha and the College World Series.

Full of ups and downs, the 2018 season was a whirlwind for the Bulldogs, and they relied on one another more than they ever thought possible. When it looked like the season would come to a disappointing end at the Tallahassee Regional, MacNamee would solidify his place in MSU baseball history and garner the nickname "Big Hit Mac."

After a two-hour rain delay, he sent the walk-off home run over the scoreboard in left field to keep State's postseason alive. In the Super Regional at Vanderbilt, MacNamee continued to grow his legend. He hit another walk-off home run to put MSU one win away from Omaha. It seemed as though every time the Bulldogs were on the ropes, MacNamee came to the plate, and that is a position he thrives to be in.

"Those two walk offs were definitely in God's hands," said MacNamee, "but it is just the way my mentality is. I knew that I wanted to [be at the plate] in those situations. If someone was going to do something, it was going to be me."

Positivity and resiliency are two of MacNamee's greatest qualities, and you see them every time he steps between the white lines. MacNamee was raised to believe nothing is impossible, and it's a mentality he wants to pass to the younger players.

Through their experiences the past few seasons, the older players never believe they are out of a game, and they don't plan to just give up. His job as a leader has been to make the younger players buy into that mentality, and they have. The positivity MacNamee carries everywhere with him stems from growing up with resiliency. In Tallahassee and Nashville last season, MacNamee remembers the positive things he would tell himself as he dug into the box.

"I can still remember the things I would tell myself walking up to the plate," said MacNamee. "It wasn't to hit a home run. It was, 'I'm doing this. This is what I'm made for.'"

Some of the aspects that made it impossible for MacNamee to turn down wearing the maroon and white, are the same things he will miss most as his college career begins to wind down.

Thousands of fans come out for hours at a time and care so much about the players and coaches, and MacNamee wants to win a championship for them. He remembers a play where he almost threw a runner out at third, and even though the runner was safe, he was given a standing ovation. Having the best fans in college baseball cheering for him night in and night out is something this senior cherishes.

Playing for his coaches and the guys beside him in the dugout, and having the honor to wear the iconic M-over-S on his chest is something MacNamee will never take for granted. He will be the biggest fan of those to come after him and will come back to the place he considers home for years to come.

"I'm going to miss that feeling of walking out of the tunnel when the game is about to start, and we take the field," MacNamee said. "The way our fans do it here is something that doesn't compare to other places."

MacNamee has managed to catch lightning in a bottle on more than one occasion while at State, and he still has some unfinished business to take care of. While sitting in the Omaha Room of perhaps the best college baseball facility in the country, surrounded by photos of all of the greats to represent the M-over-S before him, there is his photo from Tallahassee staring back at him.

The Cypress, Texas native doesn't hesitate when he considers what he wants his legacy to be. In true selfless, MacNamee fashion, it isn't about the record books, it's about his character.

"I want people to say I was the best person and teammate on and off the field, no matter what happens," MacNamee said.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Senior Feature: Elijah MacNamee

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