Four Diamond Dawgs Named ABCA South All-Region

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State baseball had four student-athletes earn spots on the 2024 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division I South All-Region Team, which was announced by the association on Tuesday (June 11).

The teams are voted on by American Baseball Coaches Association members, and the process is led by the ABCA NCAA Division I All-America Committee.

Dakota Jordan, Khal Stephen and Jurrangelo Cijntje were named ABCA/Rawlings South All-Region First Team while David Mershon was named to the second team. The three Diamond Dawgs selected First Team All-Region were the second most by a single school on the first-team list.

Awards and honors followed Jordan all throughout the 2024 season as he won the Ferriss Trophy for being the best collegiate player in the state of Mississippi, was a second-team All-SEC outfielder, 2024 Golden Spikes Award semifinalist and 2024 Charlottesville All-Regional Team member.

Over the 2024 season at MSU, Jordan excelled for the Diamond Dawgs as he led the team in home runs (20) and RBIs (72). Jordan has the seventh-best batting average in the SEC hitting .354. His 20 home runs are the eighth most in a single season at Mississippi State. He led the team with 26 multi-hit games and 21 multi-RBI games. He was the only Dawg to pick up a five-hit game this season. Jordan also led the team with a .671 slugging percentage and 85 hits.

In two seasons, Jordan appeared in 107 games for State and had a career batting average of .336. He blasted 30 homers and drove in 112 runs along with scoring 86 runs. He had 132 hits for his career and 55 extra base hits. Jordan's on-base percentage stands at .435 over his two seasons.

In the Maroon and White, Stephen led the MSU pitching staff in wins (eight), innings pitched (96.0) and ERA (3.28). His 3.28 ERA is the fifth best ERA in the SEC this season. He tied a career high with an eight-inning outing against St. John's in the Charlottesville Regional. He finished second on the team with 107 strikeouts and was named First Team All-SEC and a Charlottesville All-Regional Team member.

Stephen found himself ranked in the top 10 in multiple SEC pitching categories this season as he pitched the most innings, had the fifth best ERA, had the sixth most strikeouts and the eighth most wins by an SEC pitcher this season.

In his first outing as a Diamond Dawg, Stephen was outstanding against Air Force. He punched out a career-high 11 in and for that performance, his outing was selected as the Golden Spikes Award Week 1 Performance of the Week.

In 2024, Cijntje was dominating on the mound for the Diamond Dawgs. He was tied for the team lead in wins with eight and led the team in strikeouts with 113. He had four games this season that he tallied double-digit strikeouts. He had a career-high 11 strikeouts at Vanderbilt. In the NCAA Tournament, he pitched a career-high seven innings against Virginia. In 90.2 innings, opponents hit .211 off Cijntje and he posted an ERA of 3.67, the ninth best ERA in the SEC.

In his two seasons wearing the Maroon and White, Cijntje collected 11 wins and made 30 appearances on the mound. He pitched 140.2 innings and tallied 176 punchouts. Opponents were limited to hitting .221 off Cijntje.

Over his sophomore season as a Diamond Dawg, Mershon was a key piece for State at the plate and in the field and helped guide the Maroon and White back to the NCAA Tournament. The infielder made 58 starts - 43 at shortstop, 11 at second base and four at DH - while posting a .979 fielding percentage for the season.

Mershon led the team in stolen bases with 27 for the season, the fourth most in a single season in program history for Mississippi State. His 27 stolen bases were the second most in the SEC. At the plate, Mershon had 77 hits and 41 RBIs with a .347 batting average. He finished second on the team with 23 multi-hit games. He led the team in runs scored (60) and finished second in batting average and hits on the Diamond Dawgs in 2024.

He was a First Team All-SEC selection following the regular season. In the postseason, Mershon was named to the Charlottesville All-Regional Team.

Through his two years in the Maroon and White, Mershon has seen the plate 304 times and grabbed 100 hits, 61 walks and 46 RBIs for a .329 career batting average and has stolen 39 bases.

The ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division I All-America teams will be announced the morning of Friday, June 14 prior to the start of the 2024 NCAA Division I College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. First Team All-Region selections are eligible for All-America honors.

The ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove winners in all divisions will be announced on Wednesday, June 19. ABCA/Rawlings National Pitchers and Position Players of the Year will be announced on Monday, June 24.

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the baseball program. Fans can also follow the program on social media by searching 'HailStateBB' on X, Facebook and Instagram.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Four Diamond Dawgs Named ABCA South All-Region

Players Mentioned

Jurrangelo Cijntje

Dakota Jordan

David Mershon

Khal Stephen

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