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Baseball Joel Coleman, Senior Writer
A total of 136 years have passed since the Mississippi State baseball program played its first season. There have been 4,381 games, 11 Southeastern Conference championships, seven SEC Tournament titles, 39 NCAA Tournament appearances and 12 trips to the College World Series. There’s been heartbreak. There’s been triumph. It’s been a never-ending rollercoaster ride of emotion for generations. Only one thing has been missing through it all….Until now. Finally, the Mississippi State Bulldogs are national champions.
MSU topped Vanderbilt 9-0 on Wednesday night in Omaha to ascend to the top of the college baseball world. In a decorated history where the only blemish has been the numerous almosts, could-have-beens and nearly-did-its, the dam has burst. Long college baseball royalty, the Diamond Dawgs now have the crown to prove it.
In a house built by a host of icons too numerous to count, it was a new group of legends putting on the final maroon and white coat of paint Wednesday night. As they did, it was hard not to hearken back to the heroes of the past.
There was starting pitcher Will Bednar and closer Landon Sims doing names like Jeff Brantley and Jonathan Holder proud. The duo combined for a one-hitter with Bednar shutting down Vanderbilt over the first six innings and Sims silencing the Commodores over the remaining three frames.
Leadoff man Rowdey Jordan had a night that surely had Jake Mangum smiling somewhere. Jordan had three hits at the top of the Bulldog order. There was Tanner Allen doing what Tanner Allen does, coming through with a couple of hits and doing right-field names like Hunter Renfroe proud. Remember all the runs produced by Brent Rooker in his day? Well fellow first baseman Luke Hancock gave a figurative nod as he drove in a pair.
And oh yes, you better believe there was a little thunder and lightning as well. A quarter century after Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro, Logan Tanner and a different Clark – Kellum – provided the boom and the electricity. Tanner drilled a solo home run in the sixth. Later in the frame, Kellum Clark drilled a no-doubt three-run shot over the right-centerfield wall to build the lead to nine. It was in that moment, it all seemed to start to sink in. Right here, right now, this was indeed finally Mississippi State’s time.
None of this is to forget the earlier heroics the last two weeks in Omaha. Brayland Skinner’s steal in the vein of Mike Kelley, setting up a Big Hit Mac Elijah MacNamee-like, clutch walk-off hit from Tanner Leggett.
There was Houston Harding and Preston Johnson’s gritty, gutsy pitching effort in Game 2 of the Finals. No one will forget Kamren James’ tumbling into the camera well with a highlight-reel catch that helped swing momentum for the comeback win against Virginia. Josh Hatcher was an unsung hero with his pinch-hit infield single that helped fuel the late rally versus the Cavaliers.
How about the middle infield? Lane Forsythe and Scotty Dubrule provided multiple quality at-bats and played strong defense over the entirety of the College World Series. Brad Cumbest didn’t get to start on Wednesday after getting drilled by a pitch Tuesday, but made his presence felt earlier in the CWS with memorable knocks against Texas.
The list goes on and on. Almost certainly, there were former Bulldogs around the country figuratively in the shoes of the current heroes. This was a team that represented the past by doing something in the present that’ll live for all of the future.
And when that final out settled into Hancock’s glove at first after a slow roller to James at third, at long last, the peak of the mountain was reached. The rejoicing could commence, from the thousands of Bulldog fans in Omaha to those back home in Starkville and beyond.
In that moment, fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends and more could finally embrace and know the feeling no MSU supporter had ever known. There is no more wondering when. The days of longing are done. The 2021 Mississippi State Bulldogs are national champions. Oh how sweet it is.
Mississippi State University will be holding a celebratory parade for the national champions, July 2nd 5:00 PM, starting in Starkville, Mississippi, Fire Station One and ending at the Dudy Noble Field.
MageeNews.com is an online news source serving Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.
