Dakota Jordan has developed into a dangerous hitter in the middle of the Mississippi State lineup, and the left fielder from Canton, Mississippi capped off a magical weekend at the plate with the honor of being named SEC Freshman of the Week.
Less than a month ago, Jordan was seeing inconsistent playing time and was hitting a mere .229 at the plate after Mississippi State wrapped up an 0-3 weekend against Vanderbilt. Since then, Jordan has emerged into the player that head coach Chris Lemonis thought he was getting when he inserted him into the three-hole on opening day.
Jordan has recorded a hit in each of his last 12 games, with multiple hits in seven of those contests. He's sent five balls out of the ballpark to give him six home runs on the season. His batting average has been raised to .348, which ranks second on the team behind Bryce Chance, and his OPS now sits at a staggering 1.044.
"With me and my swing, it's nothing too crazy," Jordan said. "I try to keep everything simple. It really wasn't anything. It was just telling myself to get ready to hit. With my swing, I'm already back, I'm already loaded. I just got to tell myself to get ready to hit."
Being from the Magnolia State, Jordan grew up in the Mississippi State-Ole Miss rivalry going to games. Saturday's matchup between the Bulldogs and Rebels featured the largest on-campus attendance in college baseball history, and playing in that environment is something that Jordan had dreamed of.
"It's everything I dreamed of growing up," Jordan said. "I remember coming here as a little kid. Going from here to Oxford, going to the biggest games in college baseball."
Jordan thrived on that atmosphere on Saturday when he delivered the game-winning hit to even up the series. With the bases loaded, Jordan got his pitch and found the hole for a two-run single to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth.
The celebration that followed was a special moment. Jordan ripped his jersey off as his teammates began to swarm the field. He ran out to right field and leaped into the lounge to get a greeting from the fans while his teammates poured the Gatorade jug on him. It was a surreal moment to happen in front of a record crowd of 16,423.
"I couldn't hear anything, I blacked out," Jordan said. "This is what I came here for. To play in front of the best fan base. The best crowd."
But the walk-off hit was not only special, it was fate. Jordan, one of two African American players on Mississippi State's roster, wears #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. On Saturday, all 30 Major League teams wore #42 to honor the 76th anniversary of the legendary 2nd baseman breaking MLB's color barrier on April 15, 1947, and it was #42 with the maroon Script State on his chest that walked it off.
"My mom actually texted me before the game. I had no clue until she texted me. She was like 'It's Jackie Robinson Day. Get crunk.' Just a little word I use to get hyped," Jordan said. "Number 42 is a lucky number."
Jordan's heroics didn't end on Saturday. In Sunday's rubber match, Ole Miss pitcher J.T. Quinn left a fastball over the middle of the plate, a huge mistake for a hitter with the bat speed and power that Jordan possesses. The result was a 420-foot three-run tank to right center. It was his third of the week after he homered in Tuesday's win at UAB and Friday's loss to Ole Miss, and it jumpstarted a Mississippi State win as it gave them an early 3-0 lead.
Jordan's recent emergence has slotted him right into the four-hole behind two experienced sluggers in Colton Ledbetter and Hunter Hines. Ledbetter smashed two home runs in Saturday's win, while Hines went yard in all three games of the series. The trio is turning into Mississippi State's version of Murderer's Row, and Hines says that it's allowed him to see more pitches now that he's being projected by a dynamic hitter like Jordan.
"It's hard to pitch to our lineup when we're rolling, and I feel like with Jordan behind me then I really get some mistake pitches that I can take advantage of," Hines said.
With Jordan's recent power surge, the Bulldogs have now won two consecutive SEC series and improved to 5-10 in league play. They'll return to action Friday as they look to carry their momentum into Auburn for a series with the Tigers.
