Starkville - Mississippi State’s season came to a close Saturday with a 15-10 loss to Texas A&M, and it capped off another disappointing season under head coach Chris Lemonis.
The Bulldogs went 27-26 and finished 13th in the SEC, going 9-21 in the league to miss the conference tournament for a second consecutive year. Just two years ago this program was at the peak of the sport winning the first National Championship, but it’s been a fall from grace ever since.
The most glaring issue for the 2023 Bulldog club was the pitching. Mississippi State fired pitching coach Scott Foxhall three weeks ago, and the Bulldog pitching staff finished with the worst ERA in school history at 7.01, which also ranked last in the SEC.
In SEC play, Bulldog pitchers combined for a 9.54 ERA, 1.84 runs higher than the 13th-ranked pitching staff at Ole Miss. Mississippi State allowed ten or more runs in 16 of their 30 SEC games, and only three of their pitchers in Aaron Nixon (3.95), Cade Smith (4.50), and Nate Dohm (6.39) had an ERA below 8.00 in SEC play.
It wouldn’t be fair to not mention the injuries the Bulldogs suffered on the mound. Stone Simmons, Brooks Auger, and Pico Kohn, who all have career ERAs below 5.00, did not throw a pitch this season due to Tommy John surgery. Smith and Nixon missed over a month early in the season, and freshman Bradley Loftin, who had a 3.08 ERA in 26.1 innings, made his last pitch of the season on April 7th.
The woes on the mound weren’t due to a lack of talent, even with the injuries. Freshmen Jurrangelo Cijntje and Juco transfer Colby Holcombe turned down MLB offers to come to Mississippi State. At the same time, Landon Gartman was an All-Conference performer at Memphis in 2022. The Bulldogs impressively finished tied for fourth in the conference with 280 batters struck out in SEC play, and were sixth overall in the league with 538.
The problem with the Mississippi State pitching staff was the free passes. Walks were a significant issue in 2022 with 263 in 56 games, and they were even worse in that category this season with 321 in 53 games. Mississippi State walked the most batters in the SEC and finished with the second most walks in a season in school history. The 2017 team walked 357 batters, however, it took them 14 more games to do so.
The biggest surprise of Mississippi State’s season was their massive regression defensively. Despite a bad season on the mound in 2022, the Bulldogs finished with the second-highest fielding percentage in the SEC at .980, but in 2023 they fell all the way to the bottom of the league at .964.
Shortstop Lane Forsythe led the SEC with 15 errors, a year after committing only four, and third baseman Slate Alford was right behind him with 13. The 65 errors Mississippi State committed were ten more than second-place South Carolina, and the 57 unearned runs allowed were the most in the conference.
Offensively, the 2023 Mississippi State club was no world-beater but they were comparable to other SEC offenses that are projected to make the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs ranked seventh in the SEC in batting average (.286), on-base percentage (.399), and slugging percentage (.505). They ranked sixth in OPS (.903), and their 91 home runs were fourth in the conference and while their 303 walks were fifth.
In SEC play, Mississippi State ranked fifth in the conference in OPS (.851), fourth in home runs (53), and sixth in walks (144). The Bulldogs ranked ninth in the SEC in batting average (.265), tenth in on-base percentage (.366), and third in slugging percentage (.485).
While there is room for improvement, it was a solid year for a team that finished the season with three freshmen and two sophomores in their starting lineup. Transfer portal pickups Colton Ledbetter and Amani Larry made a major impact with Ledbetter batting .320 with a 1.025 OPS and 12 home runs and Larry hitting .297 with a .963 OPS and seven home runs. The duo also combined for 36 stolen bases.
Junior Kellum Clark nearly reached the .300 mark for the first time in his career with a .299 batting average, .940 OPS, and 11 home runs. Clark was also the team’s leading hitter in conference play with a .333 batting average.
Freshmen outfielder Dakota Jordan and catcher Ross Highfill each had impressive seasons that they will hope to build upon next season. Jordan hit .307 with a .972 OPS and blasted ten home runs, while Highfill steadily improved his defense behind the plate throughout the season and hit .231 with an .832 OPS and nine home runs.
Mississippi State will likely lose Ledbetter, Larry, and Clark to the MLB Draft while first baseman Luke Hancock is out of eligibility, but getting the young core some experience was key for building a team next season. Sophomore Hunter Hines took the SEC by storm with 23 home runs and led the team with a 1.058 OPS. Freshman David Mershon emerged as the starting shortstop during the final month of the season and hit .280 with a .427 on-base percentage.
It’s unclear if Lemonis will be back next season. If he gets another shot he'll have a tough rebuild ahead of him, especially on the mound, but the young nucleus of Hines, Jordan, Mershon, and Highfill will provide a solid foundation for the next era of Mississippi State baseball.
