That's a Wrap: 2019 Baseball

July 19, 2019 | Baseball

Diamond Dawgs earn share of SEC Western Division title, make 11th trip to College World Series

STARKVILLE – The 2019 edition of the Mississippi State baseball program enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in the program's storied history. From the 11th trip of the College World Series, to a school-record for total All-America honors to an SEC record for wins by a first-year head coach. Add in a share of the Southeastern Conference Western Division title and a school-record for attendance and the campaign was a success.

Below are some of the news, notes, highlights and a recap of the hardware earned during the 2019 campaign.

News and Notes
New Dude, New Record

Dudy Noble Field has long been among the national attendance leaders, selling out its reserved ticket allotment every season since 1987. When the gates to the "New Dude" were swung open on February 15, 2019, the Carnegie Hall of College Baseball was sold out for the 33rd-straight season.
Five months and 40 home dates (42 games) later, the Bulldog faithful packed the best facility in college baseball with a program-record 373,784 total fans and averaged a school-record 8,899 fans per game, surpassing the 8,124 fans from the 2014 campaign.
Of the 40 home dates, Mississippi State saw a program-record 11 crowds of 10,000-plus fill the stands, pushing the all-time total to 59 crowds of 10,000-or-more at Dudy Noble Field.
The Diamond Dawgs also added two more 10,000-plus crowds to the NCAA Super Regional record books and now own the top six NCAA on-campus Super Regional crowds.
Adding in the 11,511 fans that attended the NCAA Regional contest versus Central Michigan and State now has 17 NCAA postseason crowns of better than 10,000 fans.

NCAA Leaders

Mississippi State has owned some of the most prolific offenses and hardest to hit pitching staffs in NCAA history, but the 2019 edition became the first to ever lead the NCAA in an offensive or pitching category.
With 166 doubles, MSU posted the most two-baggers in NCAA Division I during the 2019 campaign. That total is a school-record mark and ranks No. 4 all-time in SEC single-season history.
Prior to that, MSU had only led the NCAA in fielding percentage (.974; 1999) and double plays per game (1.11; 2012).
On the national lists, the Diamond Dawgs ranked among the top-10 in seven categories, four offensively and three pitching.
- Doubles (166; 1st)
- Hits (755; 2nd)
- Runs (530; 4th)
- Strikeouts per nine innings (10.8; 4th)
- Batting average (.315; 5th)
- Strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.09; 7th)
- WHIP (1.23; 9th)

Lemonis Sets SEC Record

In his first season as head coach at Mississippi State, Chris Lemonis re-wrote the record books for first-year SEC skippers.
A SEC first-year head coach record 52 wins helped Lemonis become just the third SEC first-year dugout boss to reach the College World Series in his inaugural season. He joined Jake Gibbs (Ole Miss, 1972) and Pat McMahon (Mississippi State, 1998).
His 52 wins bested LSU's Smoke Laval for the most by a first-year SEC skipper. Laval led the Tigers to 44 wins in his initial SEC head coaching campaign.
Lemonis passed McMahon for the winningest first-year skipper at Mississippi State in the 53rd game of the season, as he claimed his 43rd win over Louisiana Tech on May 14.

Gautreau Tabbed Top Assistant

After helping the Mississippi State baseball program to consecutive trips to the College World Series for just the second time in program history, assistant coach Jake Gautreau was tabbed as the D1Baseball National Assistant Coach of the Year.
During the 2019 campaign, the offense led the NCAA in doubles (166), ranked second nationally in hits (755) and was fifth in Division I as a team hitting at an SEC-leading clip of .315.
On the recruiting trail, Gautreau helped Mississippi State land a top-25 recruiting class in 2017 and 2018. The 2017 class ranked as high as No. 21 (Perfect Game) and received top-25 rankings from three other publications. In 2018, MSU's incoming class was ranked as high as No. 5 nationally (D1Baseball) and was a consensus top-15 ranked class by all four major publications that release recruiting rankings.
The national assistant coach of the year honor gives Mississippi State two members of its staff to earn the award, as Lemonis was tabbed as the nation's top assistant by the American Baseball Coaches Association/Baseball America in 2013 during his final season at Louisville.

All-America Honors

The 2019 campaign ended with four Diamond Dawgs earning at least one All-America distinction, as Tanner Allen (1), Justin Foscue (7), Jake Mangum (7) and Ethan Small (7) combined to earn a school-record 22 total All-American honors.
The previous record was 14 by the 2013 NCAA national runner-up team, as Adam Frazier (1), Chad Girodo (1), Jonathan Holder (4), Ross Mitchell (2) and Hunter Renfroe (6) all earned national recognition that season.
Small became the seventh Diamond Dawg to earn unanimous first-team All-America honors, as he garnered the top distinction from the American Baseball Coaches Association, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
With is unanimous selection to the All-America first team, Small joined Jeff Brantley (1985) and Chris Stratton (2012) as the only pitchers in program history to earn a unanimous first-team selection. The others include Will Clark (1985), Rafael Palmeiro (1984), Renfroe (2013) and Brent Rooker (2017).

NOTE: Consensus and unanimous All-America honors are currently based on the four most prominent college baseball reporting services, which are American Baseball Coaches Association, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Big Notes on Small

Left-handed pitcher Ethan Small produced one of the most decorated seasons in program history during his 2019 campaign, earning unanimous first-team All-America selection, two national pitcher of the year awards and the SEC Pitcher of the Year honor.
The Lexington, Tennessee, native garnered the American Baseball Coaches Association and College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Year honors, joining Chris Stratton (Perfect Game, 2012) as the only Diamond Dawg in program history to earn a national pitcher of the year award.
A first-team All-Southeastern Conference pick, Small was the first MSU pitcher to earn a spot on the all-conference first team since Dakota Hudson in 2016 and just the second Diamond Dawg to grab the SEC Pitcher of the Year awards in program history (Stratton, 2012).
Small was also the 15th Mississippi State baseball student-athlete selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. The fifth MSU first-round pick in the last eight years, Small was taken by the Milwaukee Brewers with the 28th overall pick.
He was the fourth MSU left-handed pitcher taken in the first round in program history, joining B.J. Wallace (1992), Eric DuBose (1993) and Paul Maholm (2003).

Small Sits 'Em Down

With an NCAA-leading 176 strikeouts in 2019, Ethan Small produced the most prolific strikeout season in Mississippi State history and became the third Diamond Dawg to ever reach the 300-strikeout mark for a career.
In 18 starts, Small struck out the first batter he faced in 14 of those and piled up double-digit strikeout totals in 11 of those outings.
His 176 strikeouts in 2019 moved him past Eric DuBose (174; 1996) for the top spot on the MSU charts and pushed him into the No. 5 spot on the SEC's single-season list.
Small is just the sixth Diamond Dawg to post multiple 100-stikeout seasons and pushed his career total to 318. His career total allowed him to join DuBose (428; 1995-97) and Jeff Brantley (364; 1982-85) as the only MSU pitchers to reach 300 strikeouts in the maroon and white.

King of the SEC

With his second hit of the day on Saturday, April 27 against Georgia, Jake Mangum became the Southeastern Conference's all-time hits leader.
His 353rd hit against UGA moved him past LSU's Eddie Furniss (352; 1995-98) for the top spot in SEC history. Earlier in the season, Mangum jumped past Jeffrey Rea (335; 2004-07) as MSU's all-time hits leader with his third hit in the series opener at Tennessee.
The switch-hitting center fielder owned hits in 202 of 243 games started (83.1 %), posting 112 multi-hit games. He also posted a .348 batting average against SEC opposition with 205 hits in 588 at-bats (regular season, SEC Tournament and NCAA postseason included).
Ending his career with 383 hits, Mangum finished No. 4 on the NCAA's career hits chart, trailing only Wichita State's Phil Stephenson (418; 1979-82), Clemson's Khalil Green (403; 1999-02) and Notre Dame's Steve Stanley (385; 1999-02).

The Mayor Ends His Term

Over four seasons, Jake Mangum won an SEC regular season championship, advanced to four NCAA Super Regionals, made two trips to the College World Series and wrapped up arguably the most prolific career in Diamond Dawg history.
Upon the close of his career, Mangum owned four career records, was the school's single-season hits leader and ranked No. 4 on the NCAA's all-time hits chart with an MSU and SEC-record 383 knocks.
Mangum was the first Mississippi State baseball student-athlete to earn three-or-more first-team All-SEC honors and just the 11th MSU student-athlete in the four major sports (baseball, basketball, football) to do so. He is the first three-time first-team All-SEC performer since women's basketball's Victoria Vivians (2016-18) and first male to do so since men's basketball's Cameron Burns (1989-91).
Below is a list of Mangum's top-10 finishes on the MSU career charts:
- Games played (1st; 262)
- At-bats (1st; 1,074)
- Hits (1st; 383)
- Doubles (1st; 73)
- Hit-by-pitch (1st; 45)
- Runs scored (2nd; 229)
- Total bases (3rd; 491)
- Stolen bases (4th; 56)
- Triples (T-5th; 10)
The switch hitter is also the single-season leader in hits (108; 2019) and sits among the top 10 on 11 total season lists following the 2019 campaign. Rafael Palmeiro currently sits No. 2 with 10 spots, while Will Clark is on the single-season charts on nine occasions for the No. 3 spot.
With his back-to-back 100-hit seasons, Mangum is just the third SEC student-athlete to accomplish that feat. He joins Tennessee's Chris Burke (109, 2000; 118, 2001), LSU's Todd Walker (100, 1992; 109, 1993) and LSU's Wes Grisham (106, 1989; 100, 1990).

Ginn Shines in Debut

After turning down the Los Angeles Dodgers' first-round offer, JT Ginn enjoyed a standout freshman campaign that included a pair of national awards and a bevy of Freshman All-American honors.
After posting an 8-4 record and a 3.13 ERA in 17 starts, Ginn was tabbed as the SEC Freshman of the Year, Perfect Game National Freshman of the Year and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Co-National Freshman Pitcher of the Year.
He limited the opposition to just 72 hits – 12 for extra bases – and a .220 batting average against in 86 1/3 innings. He struck out 105 hitters and walked only 19, walking one or fewer batters in 11 of his 17 outings.
The eight victories tied Ginn with Paul Maholm (2001) for the most by a Bulldog rookie pitcher and his 106 strikeouts are No. 2 on the MSU freshman charts, just off the mark of Eric Dubose (109; 1995).
He joins Jake Mangum (2016) as the only Diamond Dawgs to win the SEC's top rookie award.

Seniors Dominate the Mound

The pitching staff had success in large part to the success of a trio of seniors: Cole Gordon, Jared Liebelt and Peyton Plumlee.
Gordon dominated at the back end of the Bulldogs bullpen with 11 saves, a 5-1 record and 69 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings of work. He allowed just 18 earned runs over 30 appearances and limited the opposition to just a .215 batting average against.
The right-hander turned from life in the batter's box to life on the mound as a sophomore and finished tied for No. 7 on the career saves chart with 16. He made 79 appearances, with 10 starts, and piled up an 11-7 record with 196 strikeouts in 159 1/3 innings of work.
Liebelt emerged as one of the biggest surprises of the 2019 season, as the right-hander cut almost 10 points off of his career ERA and led the team in appearances.
The Aurora, Illinois, native posted a 2-0 record with five saves in 34 appearances, owning a 2.96 ERA, which was a stark difference from his 13.50 ERA (12 appearances) in 2018, his first season on campus. He fanned 38 batters in 54 2/3 innings and issued just 11 walks.
Plumlee entered the season as the midweek starter for the Maroon and White, but by the time conference play entered week two, the senior had moved into the SEC rotation and posted a 7-5 overall record, including wins over Miami (Fla.) and Stanford to help Mississippi State clinch both the NCAA Starkville Regional and Super Regional.
The right hander threw 85 1/3 innings, limiting the opposition to a .211 batting average against and a 3.80 ERA in 21 appearances (16 starts). He walked only 28 and struck out 68.

International Summer

The Diamond Dawgs added to their history with USA Baseball, as Tanner Allen and Justin Foscue each appeared in the red, white, and blue for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. A third, Jordan Westburg, was invited to the Collegiate National Team Trials, as well.
Eric Cerantola was also named to the roster for Baseball Canada's trip to the Pan-Am Games in Lima, Peru.
The USA Baseball duo marks the first time in program history that multiple student-athletes have made the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and give Mississippi State 11 total Diamond Dawgs to wear the red, white, and blue.
Mississippi State's history with the Collegiate National Team began with Will Clark in 1984 and Brad Hildreth in 1986. In all, nine MSU student-athletes have represented Team USA on 10 occasions as a part of the Collegiate National Team. More recently, Adam Frazier (2012) and Konnor Pilkington (2017) were participants.

Big League Dawgs

The 2019 edition saw 11 student-athletes chosen in the 2019 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft, which tied a school-record and ranked No. 3 nationally, behind UCLA and Vanderbilt, which had 13 each.
All time, there have been 159 different Diamond Dawgs selected in the MLB Draft (since 1965) for a total of 208 picks.
The three student-athletes drafted in the first 10 rounds are tied for the fifth-most in program history, trailing the 1985 (5), 1999 (4), 2013 (4) and 2016 (4) teams.
The 11 Diamond Dawgs drafted were Ethan Small (1st; Milwaukee), Jake Mangum (4th; New York Mets), Colby White (6th; Tampa Bay), Trysten Barlow (16th round; Colorado), Dustin Skelton (18th round; Miami), Jared Liebelt (20th; Arizona), Keegan James (25th; Colorado), Marshall Gilbert (29th; Pittsburgh), Peyton Plumlee (31st; Houston), Cole Gordon (32nd; New York Mets) and Tanner Allen (34; Colorado).
Four of the 11 Bulldogs drafted on the final day of the MLB Draft already own their degrees: Barlow, Gordon, James and Liebelt.
Mangum became the first MSU baseball student-athlete to be drafted in three different draft cycles, as he was selected in the fourth round by the New York Mets.

Awards Recap
Tanner Allen
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Weekly Honor Roll (Feb. 18)
Perfect Game National Hitter of the Week (Feb. 18)
First-Team All-SEC
SEC All-Tournament Team (1B)
NCAA Starkville Regional All-Tournament Team (1B)
American Baseball Coaches Association All-South Region (first team)
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper All-America (third team)

Justin Foscue
Frisco Classic All-Tournament Team (March 3)
First-Team All-SEC
NCAA Starkville Regional All-Tournament Team (2B)
American Baseball Coaches Association All-South Region (first team)
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper All-America (second team)
Baseball America All-America (third team)
American Baseball Coaches Association All-America (second team)
Perfect Game All-America (third team)
D1Baseball All-America (second team)
College Baseball Foundation (first team)
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-America (third team)

JT Ginn
SEC Co-Freshman of the Week (Feb. 25)
Frisco Classic MVP (March 3)
SEC Co-Freshman of the Week (March 4)
SEC Freshman of the Year
SEC All-Freshman Team
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Freshman All-America
Perfect Game Freshman All-America
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Freshman All-America (first team)
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Co-National Freshman Pitcher of the Year
Perfect Game National Freshman of the Year

Cole Gordon
Mississippi State University Master's Graduate Service Assistant of the Year

Josh Hatcher
NCAA Starkville Regional All-Tournament Team (DH)

Rowdey Jordan
NCAA Starkville Regional All-Tournament Team MVP (LF)

Jared Liebelt
Mississippi State's Phi Beta Kappa Society Inaugural Class

Elijah MacNamee
Frisco Classic All-Tournament Team (March 3)
SEC Player of the Week (March 18)

Jake Mangum
SEC Player of the Week (April 29)
SEC Community Service Team
Ferriss Trophy Winner
First-Team All-SEC
SEC All-Defensive Team
American Baseball Coaches Association All-South Region (first team)
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper All-America (third team)
Baseball America All-America (second team)
American Baseball Coaches Association All-America (first team)
Perfect Game All-America (second team)
D1Baseball All-America (second team)
College Baseball Foundation (first team)
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-America (first team)

Dustin Skelton
NCAA Starkville Regional All-Tournament Team (C)
American Baseball Coaches Association All-South Region (second team)

Ethan Small
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Weekly Honor Roll (Feb. 25)
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Weekly Honor Roll (March 18)
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Weekly Honor Roll (April 15)
SEC Pitcher of the Week (May 6)
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Weekly Honor Roll (May 6)
Golden Spikes Performance of the Week (May 7)
SEC Pitcher of the Year
First-Team All-SEC
NCAA Starkville Regional All-Tournament Team (P)
American Baseball Coaches Association All-South Region (first team)
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper All-America (first team)
Baseball America All-America (first team)
American Baseball Coaches Association All-America (first team)
Perfect Game All-America (first team)
D1Baseball All-America (first team)
College Baseball Foundation (first team)
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-America (first team)
College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Year
American Baseball Coaches Association National Pitcher of the Year

Jordan Westburg
SEC Player of the Week (March 25)
Perfect Game Midseason All-America (second team)

Next Stop: 2020!
Now, we turn the page to 2020 and we cannot wait to see the best fans in college baseball back at the Carnegie Hall of College Baseball.