Special Night Shows How ‘Nothing Compares’ To State Baseball
November 08, 2025 | Baseball, Joel Coleman
The Diamond Dawg Classic showcased exactly why MSU has one of the nation’s premier programs.
STARKVILLE – Clouds hovered in the nighttime sky over Dudy Noble Field on Friday evening. Nonetheless, stars could be seen everywhere you looked.
Mississippi State's Farm Bureau Diamond Dawg Classic served as a pinch-me type of moment.
Was this heaven? No. Just Starkville, hosting the kind of event that reminds everyone exactly how special MSU baseball is.
"I think we have the premier program in college baseball," State great and Major League Baseball legend Rafael Palmeiro said prior to managing Team Lightning in the alumni game. "And I'm not just saying that because I went to Mississippi State and I'm associated with the program.
"Nothing compares as a whole to our program and what we have to offer and the experience that you get coming to Mississippi State. The whole package is as good as it gets."
It sure is. Nobody, anywhere, does baseball like Mississippi State and those reasons were everywhere to be seen on Friday.
Before a pitch was even thrown, the numbers could tell the tale of why Diamond Dawg baseball is elite.
A total of 51 current or former professional players were in attendance. There were 17 who reached Major League Baseball, including seven MLB All-Stars, six first-round MLB Draft picks and four World Series Champions.
Forty-one of the returning Bulldogs played in at least one College World Series. Seventeen were All-Americans. Nine were NCAA National Champions back in 2021.
That's not to even mention the many others back in Starkville enjoying the festivities whose careers didn't make it to the pros, but whose contributions wearing the M-over-S made them unforgettable Bulldogs.
Oh, and lest we forget to mention the 10,172 fans who came out to see it all.
That's right – 10,172. For an alumni game in November.
Where else would this type of event mean so much to so many? There aren't many places. There might not be any places.
"We keep using the word special, but it is," said MSU and San Francisco Giants icon, and Team Thunder manager Will Clark.
As for the game itself, it was special all on its own. The seven-inning affair was full of highlights.
Ironically, it was Team Lightning who brought the thunder. Connor Powers, Jeff Flagg and Hunter Renfroe all blasted homers into the Left Field Lounge.
Team Thunder kept the pace though, fueled by production from current big leaguers Jake Mangum and Adam Frazier.
It all led up to an 8-8 tie that had to be decided by a home run swing off with Renfroe winning the contest for Team Lightning by out-hacking Mitch Moreland.
Palmeiro and his squad celebrated the victory at home plate with a beautiful, shiny Diamond Dawg Classic championship belt. But make no mistake, on this night, all were winners – every last soul in Maroon and White, both on the field and in the stands.
For all got to enjoy something uniquely Mississippi State. All got to soak in the special.
The Diamond Dawg Classic was just the latest example of what's long been known. There's baseball, then there's Mississippi State baseball.
It's so much more than a game in Starkville.
