Diamond Dawgs Set for The SEC Tournament

STARKVILLE – The Mississippi State Diamond Dawgs are set to open the 2024 SEC Tournament on Tuesday night against rival Ole Miss. The game will start at approximately 8 p.m. from the Hoover Met.

Tuesday's game will be aired on the SEC Network and will also be carried on the Bulldog Sports Network powered by LEARFIELD, along with a live audio stream via HailState.com/OnDemand.

For the full 2024 SEC Tournament Bracket and Schedule, click here.

Gameday Info
Tuesday, May 21 (approx. 8 p.m.)
Probable Starters
MSU: Brooks Auger, (1-2, 3.78 ERA), RHP, Jr.
OM: Riley Maddox, (3-7, 6.10 ERA), RHP, Jr.

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Quick Hitters

The Diamond Dawgs are in the national rankings. They were ranked No. 15 by D1 Baseball, No. 14 by Baseball America, No. 22 by Perfect Game, No. 16 by NCBWA and No. 16 by the USA Today/Coaches Poll.
For the first time since 2021, the Ferriss Trophy, presented by the Mississippi band of Choctaw Indians and Pearl River Resort, is returning to StarkVegas after Dakota Jordan won the award. With Jordan earning the 2024 award, the Dawgs have won the most Ferriss trophies since the award began in 2004. Jordan is the eighth Mississippi State player to earn the award and it's the ninth time a MSU player has won the honor. Thomas Berkery and Edward Easley went back-to-back in 2006 and 2007, Chris Stratton and Hunter Renfroe claimed the 2012 and 2013 awards and Jake Mangum and Brent Rooker won consecutive awards in 2016-17. Mangum and Tanner Allen went back-to-back in 2019 and 2021. Mangum is the only player to ever win the award twice.
The Diamond Dawgs had three players earn All-SEC honors, the conference offense announced Monday. Shortstop David Mershon and pitcher Khal Stephen were named first team All-SEC by the league's coaches, while outfielder Dakota Jordan was tabbed second team All-SEC. Mershon leads the team in stolen bases with 23, the tenth most in a single season for an MSU player. The 23 stolen bases are the third most in the SEC this season and only four behind the SEC stolen base leader. At the plate Mershon has 63 hits and 36 RBIs in 193 plate appearances with a .326 batting average. He finished second on the team with 18 multi-hit games. Stephen came in and pitched 83 innings, the most in the by an SEC pitcher this season. He had a team-high eight wins for the Dawgs. Stephen's eight wins are the fourth most by a pitcher this season and his 93 strikeouts are the eighth most by a pitcher. During conference play Stephen led the team with six wins through 10 starts. He has posted a 3.21 ERA with 67 punchouts through 232 batters faced in 61.2 innings of in SEC only games. Jordan has shined for the Diamond Dawgs led the team in home runs (17) and RBIs (61). Jordan has the seventh-best batting average in the SEC hitting .363.
David Mershon has been swiping bases at will this season. He is 23-for-25 in stolen bases. He stole his 23rd base of the season at Arkansas. With his 23rd stolen base, he has the tenth most stolen bases in program history. He takes over the tenth spot that Jake Mangum held. Mershon is one steal away from tying for ninth all-time. He is only six bases away from tying for the second most in a single season.
Khal Stephen and Jurrangelo Cijntje have been aces for the Dawgs on the mound this season. Entering the SEC Tournament, the duo has eight wins and has pitched 70 plus innings each. Each has over 90 strikeouts on the season as well. The last time the Dawgs had two pitchers throw 70 or more innings, win seven or more games, and have 80 or more punchouts was during the 2019 season when Ethan Small and JT Ginn accomplished this feat. Stephen and Cijntje have the sixth and seventh-best ERA (3.25, Stephen; 3.48, Cijntje) in the SEC this season. Both pitchers rank in the top 10 in strikeouts in the SEC. Cijntje has 98 Ks on the season, the fourth most, while Stephen has 93 punchouts this season, the eighth most. The 10th most Ks in a single season at MSU is 121.
Junior infielder/outfielder Hunter Hines enters the 2024 season as a Third Team Preseason All-American by Perfect Game. For his career, Hines has hit 53 home runs. The 53 home runs are the fifth most by an active player in the SEC. Tommy White (74), Jac Caglianone (69), Braden Montgomery (61) and Charlie Condon (60) are the only active players ahead of Hines. The 53 home runs are the 10th most by an active player in Division 1 baseball. The 53 home runs in a career are the fifth most at Mississippi State. He joined the top 5 on last Friday night when he hit two homers against Alabama at Dudy Noble Field. Besides hitting for power, Hines has driven in 164 runs and is 20 RBIs away from joining the career RBI mark at MSU.
Joe Powell had a career day last week as against North Alabama, he led the Diamond Dawgs to their 34th victory of the season. Powell went 4-for-4 on the day with three home runs and six RBIs. Powell became the first player since Ross Highfill hit three homers on March 11, 2023, against Lipscomb. The six RBIs are the most he has had in a single game during his career. Against the Lions, Powell racked up 13 total bases and was the first Dawg to have ten or more total bases in a game since Hunter Hines accomplished this against Vanderbilt earlier this season. Besides having a career day, Powell has homered in back-to-back games and has four homers in the last two games. He hit .727 on the night and had four homers and nine home runs to lead the Dawgs to a 3-1 week.
The Dude Effect is alive and well. Reserved seating has once again sold out for the season. Mississippi State has sold out reserved seating since 1987.
On March 22 Mississippi State's 5-1 victory over Texas A&M marked their 1,000^th career SEC victory. Only four schools have accomplished this feat. MSU joined Florida, LSU, and Alabama to reach 1,000 wins in SEC games.
Mississippi State is great at turning out major league talent, with 69 Diamond Dawgs reaching the highest level of the sport, but it is also great at keeping student-athletes on campus.

Scouting the Opponent – Ole Miss

Ole Miss ended the 2024 regular season with a 27-28 overall record and 11-19 SEC record. The Rebels rank sixth in the SEC with their 11-19 conference record this season.
The enter the SEC Tournament as the 12th seed.
The Rebels hold a 7-15 away game record and a 1-1 neutral record for the 2024 season.
Ole Miss is heading to Hoover on a five-game losing streak after getting swept by LSU this weekend in Baton Rouge, La.
The bat of Ethan Lege leads the Rebels' offense with his .323 batting average. Lege has put together 50 hits, 38 RBIs and 13 home runs in 155 plate appearances.
Riley Maddox has made 14 appearances this season with 46 punchouts in 62 innings pitched to top Ole Miss's pitching staff. Maddox ended the regular season with a 3-7 record.

Series History

The Diamond Dawgs lead the all-time series 266-213-5 over Ole Miss.
The Rebels and Bulldogs last faced off in the annual Governor's Cup in Pearl, Miss earlier this season on May 1st. Mississippi State took the 5-1 win over Ole Miss.
This will be the fifth matchup between these two programs this season.

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Diamond Dawgs Set for The SEC Tournament

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brooks Auger

Jurrangelo Cijntje

Ross Highfill

Hunter Hines

Dakota Jordan

David Mershon

Joe Powell

Khal Stephen

Mississippi State University Athletics

Diamond Dawgs Set for The SEC Tournament

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brooks Auger

Jurrangelo Cijntje

Ross Highfill

Hunter Hines

Dakota Jordan

David Mershon

Joe Powell

Khal Stephen

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