Mississippi State has made a late addition to its roster ahead of the 2024 season in the form of one-time Cincinnati standout catcher Joe Powell. 247Sports was first to report the news.
Powell, who spent three seasons with the Bearcats from 2020-22, retired due to injury prior to the 2023 season after transferring to Texas A&M. It appears that he'll putting the cleats back on, as he updated his Instagram bio to reflect his membership of the Bulldog program.
During his three seasons at Cincinnati, the right-handed hitting catcher made 79 starts, posting his best season in 2022. That season, he led the Bearcats in batting average at .326, and added a .422 on-base percentage, .575 slugging percentage, five home runs, 12 doubles, four triples and 26 RBI. In 166 plate appearances, he walked 22 times with 39 strikeouts.
The Mason, Ohio native had his freshman season cut short after ten games due to Covid, hitting .235 with nine RBI in those contests. As a redshirt freshman in 2021, he started 32 games and slashed .215/.351/.393 with five home runs, four doubles, 15 RBI, 22 walks and 40 strikeouts in 132 plate appearances.
The 5'9", 187-pound backstop has also been solid behind the dish, catching 12/27 base stealers during the 2022 season with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. He gunned down 14/35 runners in 2021, and 3/7 as a freshman in 2020.
Returning behind the plate for the Diamond Dawgs is sophomore Ross Highfill, who put together a solid freshman campaign with and .832 OPS and nine home runs. Also on the roster is Pittsburgh transfer Johnny Long, Northeast Mississippi C.C. product Jackson Owen and freshman Steven Spalitta.
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