Bleav in Mississippi State

It's been a full month since the Diamond Dog season ended and Chris Lemonis' search for a 2024 pitching coach continues. A number of reported or at least reputed candidates have emerged and a top target has just visited campus. With the NCAA baseball transfer season going there's urgency to sealing a deal for Mississippi State. Meanwhile Coach Zach Arnett is scoring commitments with summer camps for his first full recruiting class. Arnett will be at SEC Media Days on July 18 and three un-named Dogs will go with him. The SEC grabbed 2023 headlines by announcing a 2024 one-time football schedule, how did Mississippi State come out?

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With last week's delay in implementing a schedule system for at least another year, Mississippi State and SEC cousins will play a one-time slate in 2024. The eight league opponents will be revealed on June 14. Coach Zach Arnett is using summer camps to commit prospects for this year's recruiting class and offense is leading the list so far. Meanwhile a pitching coach hire is still pending as Chris Lemonis makes his best pick for Diamond Dog moundsmen.

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Word from the SEC's spring meetings in Destin haven't cleared up the league's pending plans for future football scheduling. Not so far, that is. Mississippi State favors staying with eight SEC games in a new 1/7 rotation but a 3/6 system has gotten almost all the attention. But could the league throw everyone a real curve and delay deciding on a full system while playing a one-off sort of slate in 2024?

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For a second season Bulldog baseball ends too soon. The SEC Tournament is again without the program which did more than any to make it an event years ago. Chris Lemonis will apparently be retained after two losing campaigns and says he has a young core to build around. But he has to bring in a load of immediate transfer talent if 2024 is to be a turnaround, most of all in the pitching staff where Lemonis is also seeking a coach. The transfer portal opens next Monday, a week after Lemonis has meetings with all current Bulldogs. Recruiting is good but in a transfer and NIL era nothing is certain about a roster any more.

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Zach Arnett has spent much of May getting out and talking with Mississippi State football fans who are invested in this program. Arnett liked the consistent work ethic shown in his first spring camp but his 2023 team is far from a final product. So is the roster as Arnett and staff are still looking for a couple more summer signees in the transfer portal, while also keeping busy recruiting high schools and junior colleges.

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Mississippi State was swept for another SEC series and has lost eight of the last nine league games. The remaining schedule will make it difficult at best for the Bulldogs to reach the SEC Tournament or even finish over break-even. Not only are the Bulldogs losing but looking bad doing so with fundamental mistakes and team tensions rising. New athletic director Zac Selmon finds himself facing an end of season decision to stay the current coaching course or make a change even as the NCAA transfer portal opens and the Major League draft looms.

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A sweeping at Tennessee and some of the worst types of pitching records by a Mississippi State program forced Coach Chris Lemonis to let pitching coach Scott Foxhall go. The Bulldogs cling to 12th place SEC, the last spot which would make the league tournament. But Mississippi State's remaining three opponents have a far better SEC record than those of Missouri and Ole Miss which the Dogs barely lead today. Making an in-season move should allow Lemonis to name the next pitching coach before summer, and more to point before current Dogs and signees decide their own futures.

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A pair of won weekends had Mississippi State back on SEC track. A series lost at Auburn sends the Diamond Dogs right back into a hole. State is 12th in the league standings, which is the last SEC Tournament slot. Holding just that will be difficult against a murderer's row schedule the next three weekends. Bulldog pitching was already struggling and injuries have made things worse for both the rotation and bullpen. The offense scored enough runs to win twice after being held to a single score on Friday, a reminder of club inconsistency. Tuesday's Governor's Cup game with Ole Miss won't count in the SEC standings but does matter for teams that just need wins right now.

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Mississippi State's string of regular-season series wins over rival Ole Miss now stands at seven. The Diamond Dogs bounced back from a Friday loss to beat the Rebels twice to take the SEC series. State is now tied for 9th overall in the league standings. The Bulldogs did not hit well but got enough big blows at the big times, while pitching kept the Ole Miss offense just in check. Freshman Dakota Jordan is the weekend hero with his walk-off hit in Saturday's win and a three-run homer to set Sunday's tone. With the pitching staff getting healthy and State settling on an offensive-minded lineup, the second half of SEC season offers opportunity again.

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Zach Arnett limited his second spring scrimmage for wet weather, but the forecast for this Saturday's Maroon-White game is for clear conditions and full contact. The ground game got the emphasis in scrimmage #2. Defense generally dominated the full-team action despite missing some front-line personnel. Coordinator Kevin Barbay's offense did flash the pass game but focused on running the ball on a wet field. Meanwhile taking two at Tuscaloosa may have salvaged Mississippi State's season if the Bulldogs can build on a first series win by taking care of Ole Miss in this weekend's hyper-intense rematch of rivals who own the last two NCAA Championships. SEC statistically, the matchup is just too close to call today, as is the shaky weather forecast for Super Weekend on the MSU campus.

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