He Loves This Place

OMAHA, Neb. – Mississippi State's Tanner Allen was in the on-deck circle at T.D. Ameritrade Park on Sunday night when head coach Chris Lemonis came to his star right fielder with a question. The Bulldogs were clinging to a slim, 2-0 lead against Texas in the College World Series. Allen hadn't been on base all night.

"I looked over to him and said, 'Are you going to help us out tonight?'" Lemonis recalled.

Both player and coach could laugh at the interaction. Allen is in Omaha as the reigning Southeastern Conference Player of the Year. The Bulldogs are likely nowhere near Nebraska right now without him.

To take it a step further, Mississippi State baseball in general might be in a much different spot right now if not for the Alabama boy that, as a high school senior, made a late call to come to Starkville.

That choice proved incredibly beneficial to both the Bulldogs and Allen.

"The Lord sending me here was a blessing in disguise," Allen said on Monday as he recounted his State career. "He decided to take me this direction and it's been the best decision I've ever made."

Allen's walk-up song that blares over the Dudy Noble Field speakers when he comes to the plate at home says it about as clearly as possible. The country twang of Justin Moore, singing Small Town USA, says 'I'm proud to say I love this place.' It might as well be Allen holding the mic.

"I've been unbelievably blessed to be able to play baseball at Mississippi State," Allen said.

What a ride it has been for both the Bulldogs and Allen.

Not Too High, Not Too Low

When Allen was in middle school, he said he always used to hear the high school guys talking about how cool it'd be to get the chance to go play baseball at Mississippi State.

"At the time, I didn't even think that was something that was reality. It was a dream," Allen said.

When it became Allen's turn to suit up for UMS-Wright Prep in Mobile, he made fantasy come into focus. He lettered five times and over the course of his junior and senior seasons, earned multiple All-American honors on the way to leading his team to back-to-back state championships.

All the success opened the big-time college baseball doors for Allen and after heavy interest elsewhere, he set his sights on Mississippi State.

That first season in Starkville proved to help mold Allen's legacy, and him personally. For one, he cemented himself as a team player, willing to do whatever it took to push the Bulldogs to success. Allen was a shortstop in high school and played third base and left field in MSU's first three games in 2018. But soon, a need arose and Allen was right there ready to fill it.

"As a freshman, I didn't care where I played, I just wanted to be in the lineup," Allen recalled. "I was given the opportunity to play first. They said, 'Look, we need you.' I said, 'Put me over there. Give me a first baseman's glove and let me try it.' I ended up doing well with it. I was just grateful for the opportunity to get on the field."

Allen was suddenly playing first base for the first time since he was around 12 years old. No one could tell it though as he earned Freshman All-America and Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team honors.

He even got to be the man that punched MSU's ticket to the 2018 College World Series as he had the series-ending putout in the Nashville Super Regional against Vanderbilt.

Reaching Omaha in his first season taught Allen a valuable lesson that Bulldog fans have heard Allen repeat time and time again since then. Never get too high. Never get too low.

You might recall the 2018 Bulldogs had started the season 15-15 overall and were 2-7 in SEC play. At a point, it looked far from a guarantee they'd qualify for the SEC Tournament, much less the College World Series.

"At the time, we were doing so bad I was like, 'I'm just glad to be playing,'" Allen said. "Then to turn it all around and get to Omaha, I learned from that year, 'Hey, it's going to get bad sometimes, but it can get good just as quick.' It can also be good sometimes and then get bad just as quick. You've gotta stay even-keeled."

Never too high. Never too low. Control the emotions. It's been the Tanner Allen way.

Shaped in the Woods

Time and time again since that freshman year, Allen has shown the ability to be a steadying force for the Bulldogs, no matter what's going on around him. Yes, his experience as a rookie has surely been a part of it, but there's something else Allen points to as a reason for how he's been able to keep his wits about him on the field as he's carved out his Mississippi State legacy.

Allen loves the outdoors. It was part of the reason he felt such a comfort factor coming to Starkville in the first place.

"I kind of just hunt and fish," Allen said of his hobbies. "Hunt and fish and play baseball. [Coming to Starkville] was a great match. It's like a home away from home."

Well Allen is convinced that being in the woods helps him on the baseball diamond.

"Right when I met him he told me, 'I'm a great player because I'm a great hunter,'" Lemonis said, recalling a discussion not long after Lemonis was hired in 2018.

Here's Allen's theory:

"The adrenaline rush I get when I'm hunting, I can correlate it to baseball because I have to execute," Allen said. "When I'm hunting, obviously there's adrenaline rushing, but at the same time, you have to be able to calm down and execute…You've got to calm the nerves and execute, just like you're coming to bat at Dudy Noble in the ninth inning with the game on the line and 15,000 people going crazy. Obviously you're going to have an adrenaline rush, but you've got to take a deep breath, focus on the task at hand and be able to execute."

Some might chuckle at the comparison. The many pitchers that have found themselves right in Allen's crosshairs since 2018 surely aren't laughing. And it's seemed like the more that's on the line, the more likely Allen is to hit the bullseye for Mississippi State.

"He's just a gamer," Lemonis said. "There's something about him. He's an alpha competitor. I say it all the time. There's no moment too big for him. He has been there and done it. I haven't coached many like him in my career. He rises to every occasion."

Rare Air

Allen's past and personality have built a Bulldog resume that is among the best to ever wear the maroon and white. In the future, whenever folks speak of Palmeiro and Clark and Mangum and Rooker and the rest, Allen's name will be right there with them.

"That's neat man," Allen said. "I'm just humbled to have my name in the same ballpark as some of those guys."

It's the reward you get when you do what Allen has done. Here's just a quick look:

He's just the second MSU player ever to have 50 doubles, 20 homers and 10 triples in a career, joining Rex Buckner.
He's only the ninth Diamond Dawg to eclipse 250 hits, 150 runs scored and 150 RBIs for a career.
He's fourth on the career doubles list.
He's tied for third on the career triples list.
He's ninth in career total bases, 10^th in career hits and 11^th in career RBIs. He could easily move further up in all three of those categories over the course of MSU's run in this year's College World Series.

Speaking of Omaha, the trek northward might be Allen's biggest claim to fame. He's had three fully completed seasons at State. He's played in the College World Series in all of them. Only teammates Rowdey Jordan and Josh Hatcher can make the claim of playing in Omaha three times with the Bulldogs.

"My three trips [to the College World Series], there have been some common denominators," Allen said. "The first one taught us how to get [to Omaha]. The next two times, I've kind of kept the same work ethic it took, then [known how to] respond to getting beat. It's a long season. You've got to play hard all season long and then turn it on in the postseason. It's hard work."

To hear Allen talk, it's the College World Series he seemingly wants associated with him the most once he leaves MSU. And not even specifically him getting to Omaha. He wants to leave behind the map directing the way northward for future Diamond Dawgs.

"When I'm gone, I just hope any kind of wisdom I left for the young guys is just, 'Hey, you've got to work hard all year long and always stay positive.' I feel like if you do that, you'll end up [in Omaha]," Allen said. "I just want to be an example of what a Mississippi State baseball player is when I'm gone. All these accolades, all these awards will be gone when I'm gone. It'll be a new year next year. Only thing I can leave behind is just an example of what a Mississippi State baseball player does and that's work hard and play hard and stay even-keeled."

Dawg for Life

Allen is still crafting his MSU story. The Bulldogs are alive and well in this year's College World Series and, yes, there's a chance Allen could help lead Mississippi State to the mountaintop for the first time ever. It'd be a very deserving exclamation point for Allen on the back end of his career.

Win, lose or draw in Omaha over the coming days, Allen will then head into the summer and see what his future holds. Regardless of what transpires, the reality is Allen's clock in Starkville is running out. Whenever the time comes for him to depart, he'll leave behind some incredibly big cleats to fill. You can tell that from the praise he receives from his coach, the very same guy that was giving Allen a hard time in the on-deck circle last Sunday night.

"He brings so much personality to the ballpark," Lemonis said. "You just enjoy coaching kids like that. We've had some really fun kids to coach, and he's been as fun and productive as anybody…I'm happy for him, I'm glad I've gotten to coach him."

And Allen is proud he's had the chance to play in maroon and white. In fact, proud is undoubtedly understating it. Allen loves Starkville and MSU. You better believe Bulldogs everywhere adore him right back. No matter where the future leads the two parties, it's a relationship that's going to withstand the test of time.

"Mississippi State has a special place in my heart man. It does," Allen said. "I'm going to be back years and years and years down the road. I promise."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Tanner Allen

Josh Hatcher

Rowdey Jordan

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