The Rise of Rowdey

STARKVILLE – When the calendar flips over to June each year, Mississippi State's Tanner Allen gives everyone a heads up. His teammate, centerfielder Rowdey Jordan, is coming. And there is seemingly no slowing him down.

"I tell everybody, 'Just wait for postseason Rowdey,'" Allen said. "He lives for the big moment."

Well Mr. Jordan, this weekend in Starkville, the floor is yours. Mississippi State opens up its best-of-three Super Regional against Notre Dame on Saturday at Dudy Noble Field. If history is any indication, the man at the top of the Bulldog batting order with the long, blond locks will have a lot to say about how the next three days play out.

Jordan's postseason resume stacks up with anyone's in Mississippi State history. When it comes to Regionals, he's just the fourth Bulldog ever to earn three Regional All-Tournament Team selections, joining the likes of Burke Masters, Travis Chapman and Jake Mangum. Jordan also has a Regional Most Valuable Player honor in his past, winning that award in Starkville back in 2019. For his career, Jordan his hit an unbelievable .500 (25-for-50) in the first round of the postseason.

Oh but wait, there's more. Jordan led the team in batting average in the 2018 Nashville Super Regional. He's reached base at least once in each of MSU's last six College World Series games. When the lights have been the brightest, Jordan has been at his absolute best. Perhaps it's just his personality – unwavering, no matter the opponent or magnitude of the moment.

"The one quality [Jordan] and [Allen] have that is very similar is they don't back down from anybody," State head coach Chris Lemonis said. "They'll hit the best in the country. They don't back down. They're never scared. They learned that as freshmen. They just got thrown into the fire that first year and they have taken it throughout their whole careers."

So if the going gets tough this weekend for MSU, you can bet the Bulldogs would love to have Jordan in the box in a big spot. But as Jordan and company eye a third straight College World Series appearance, it's worth remembering where the clutch centerfielder came from, and his path to becoming a postseason hero for the maroon and white.

Swapping SEC Towns

Jordan grew up in SEC Country, it was just across the state line. A standout at Auburn High School in Alabama, Jordan was a two-time All-State performer and and two-time honorable mention All-American. He also lettered in football.

Oddly enough, it might've been his football passion that helped him land in Starkville. He grew up watching the Auburn Tigers on the gridiron. Jordan wanted a football-crowd-like feeling for wherever his collegiate baseball career landed him.

"When I was getting recruited, I really didn't know much about Mississippi State or college baseball in general," Jordan said. "(MSU) called and said, 'We want you to come down.' My dad and I came and we were like, 'Wow, this is amazing.' The stadium was huge. There were fans everywhere…I felt like it'd be awesome and I felt like playing in front of 15,000 people would just be awesome."

Of course back then, Jordan was getting recruited by then-MSU head coach (and current Director of Athletics) John Cohen. One of Cohen's recruiting pitches was that those thousands of people inside Dudy Noble would one day be on their feet for Jordan, chanting his name and yelling at the top of their lungs, 'Rowdey! Rowdey! Rowdey!' Lo and behold, all these years later, Jordan has an admission.

"Coach Cohen hit the nail on the head," Jordan said. "It's actually happened and it's been awesome."

Replacing the Mayor

Jordan fit with MSU like a hand sliding perfectly into a broken-in baseball glove. He was a Freshman All-American selection in 2018 and followed that up in 2019 with a strong year where he batted .290 with six homers, 15 doubles and 49 RBIs.

Jordan did all that as State's left-fielder. Beside him in the outfield stood Mangum, the guy who's now an MSU icon and the SEC's all-time hits king. Upon Mangum's graduation following the 2019 season, Jordan had the unenviable position of being the guy that had to follow THE guy as he moved over to center. Nonetheless, Jordan took it all in stride.

"For me, I really didn't put a lot of pressure on myself going into that role," Jordan said. "I knew people would talk about it and stuff like that, but I understood the differences in his game and my game. He probably was always going to have a higher average than what I was going to hit for. But I tend to hit [with a little more power]. I had seven homers my freshman year and six as a sophomore with a good amount of doubles. So I understood, hey, if I just go out there and I'm myself, it'll all take care of itself and fall into place. I feel like that's what it's done."

Rather than shy away from the duty of taking over Mangum's role in center and at leadoff, Jordan chose to embrace it and incorporate some of the same ways of doing things that made his predecessor so successful.
"One of the biggest things I learned from playing next to Jake was just how hard he played," Jordan said. "He always came to the field ready to go and played really hard during games. And he took one at-bat at a time. He could have a bad at-bat, but his next one, he was so ready for that next at-bat to do something good. I kind of fed off of that, especially when I was younger. I learned that what has happened, has happened. So if you have a bad at-bat or a bad two at-bats, your next one you have an opportunity to do something good. I think that's one of the biggest things I learned from him."

Jordan said he and Mangum, who is now in the New York Mets organization, remain in touch. In fact, he said the two recently had a chat to catch up.

"He had just gotten called up to Double-A, so we were talking about that and about our season [here at MSU] and how we needed to be ready for Regionals and stuff like that," Jordan said.

Whether they thought about it or not at the time, it was a call between two of the greatest State centerfielders of all time.

The Biggest Hurdle

Jordan has really only had one major speed bump in his rise to Mississippi State stardom. He's been like a freight train each season – slow to get going before becoming almost unstoppable. It's become such a thing the guys all have a little fun with it behind the scenes.

"It could be he [waits until he] plays Auburn, then he plays really good after that," Lemonis said. "That's what's kind of been the whole joke in our clubhouse."

Maybe there's something to that. Jordan sports a career .351 average against his hometown Tigers.

In reality, there's more to consider. For one, Jordan is a switch-hitter.

"He carries around two swings – his right-handed and his left-handed one," Lemonis said. "Everybody else just has to get one ready. He has to get two ready. He spends a lot of time hitting. He probably hits more than anybody in the program. But it just takes awhile to get him going and when he gets it going, he finds it. His competitive side, once we hit SEC play, that's what takes off and carries his at-bats."

Also, both Lemonis and Jordan are firm believers that the more pitches Jordan sees each year, the better and more locked in he gets. That bodes well for the Bulldogs as with the Super Regional here, there's a season's worth of pitches seen in Jordan's back pocket.

Leaving a Legacy

No matter what happens against Notre Dame or in the future though, Jordan's legacy at MSU is sealed. He'll be remembered among the school's best ever. Jordan's head coach certainly won't ever forget him.

"He just brings a good energy every day," Lemonis said. "I really enjoy being around him. He's a very upbeat kid. He works really hard. He takes a lot of pride in his game. I've learned that over the years, how much pride he takes in his game. It's been slow starts, which we've had to fight through a little bit. Then it's been great finishes. That's what we're hoping here, too. He's just a very special player."

The best part for Jordan and Mississippi State? His Bulldog story isn't finished yet. There are still chapters left to be written, possibly as soon as this weekend. At this point, given the track record he's put together in his time in Starkville, no one expects anything less of Jordan.

"On the big stage, Rowdey is gonna be there," Allen said.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Tanner Allen

Rowdey Jordan

Related Videos