2008 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team

The 2008 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team represented Mississippi State University in the NCAA Division I baseball season of 2008. The team was coached by Ron Polk, in his 35th year as a collegiate head coach, and his 29th at Mississippi State. During mid-season, Coach Polk announced he would resign effective at the conclusion of the season. Following the conclusion of the season, former MSU standout and University of Kentucky Head Baseball coach John Cohen was announced by incoming AD Greg Bryne as the new Mississippi State Baseball Coach for 2009.

2008 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionWest
Record23-33 (9-21 SEC)
Head coach
Hitting coachTommy Raffo
Pitching coachRuss McNickle
Home stadiumDudy Noble Field
Seasons
← 2007
2009 →
2008 Southeastern Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Eastern
No. 2 Georgia x‍‍y 20 9   .690 45 25   .643
Florida ‍‍‍y 17 13   .567 34 24   .586
No. 25 Kentucky ‍‍‍y 16 14   .533 44 19   .698
Vanderbilt ‍‍‍y 15 14   .517 41 22   .651
South Carolina ‍‍‍y 15 15   .500 40 23   .635
Tennessee  ‍‍‍ 12 18   .400 27 29   .482
Western
No. 6 LSU x‍‍y 18 11   .621 49 19   .721
Alabama ‍‍‍y 16 14   .533 35 28   .556
Ole Miss ‍‍‍y 15 15   .500 39 26   .600
Arkansas ‍‍‍y 14 15   .483 34 24   .586
Auburn  ‍‍‍ 11 19   .367 28 28   .500
Mississippi State  ‍‍‍ 9 21   .300 23 33   .411
x – Division champion
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 2008[1]
Rankings from Coaches' Poll

Pre-season

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The 2008 version of the Mississippi State Bulldogs Baseball team were looking to build on the success of the 2007 MSU Baseball Campaign after advancing to the College World Series. Based upon the achievements the year before, the recruiting class of 2008 was ranked 26th by Collegiate Baseball[2] The team was predicted to finish second in the SEC West Mississippi State was ranked 24th in the preseason NCBWA poll,[3] 23rd in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll,[4] and 19th in the Rivals.com preseason poll[5]

Infielder Brandon Turner was named to the 2008 preseason Louisville Slugger TPX 2008 All-America second team[6] and to the Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list.[7] Pitcher Aaron Weatherford was named to the preseason watch list for the NCWBA Stopper of the Year Award.[8] Turner and Weatherford were both named to the preseason watch list for the 2008 Brooks Wallace Award.[9]

Roster and Stats

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Coaches

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Name Title First Season at MSU Alma Mater
Ron Polk[10] Head coach 1976 Grand Canyon College (1965)
Russ McNickle[11] Assistant coach 2002 University of South Alabama (1988)
Tommy Raffo[12] Assistant coach 1998 Mississippi State University (1990)
Wade Hedges[13] Volunteer Assistant Coach 2004 Florida Southern College (1996)

Players

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# Player Pos B T YR Hometown G AB H AVG HR RBI BB SB FLD%
2 Brandon Turner 2B L R SO Cleveland, TN 8 23 5 .217 1 4 0 0 1.000
3 Grant Hogue OF S R JR Hattiesburg, MS 55 197 63 .320 0 13 21 25 .943
5 Russ Sneed 3B/SS R R SO Senatobia, MS 56 215 59 .274 2 26 31 5 .940
7 Ryan Powers SS/2B R R FR Beacon, NY 40 92 22 .239 0 10 12 0 .944
8 Brooks Lewis C R R JR Heidelberg, MS 23 17 4 .235 0 2 3 0 .980
11 Tyler Moore 1B R R JR Brandon, MS 56 204 61 .299 14 46 21 5 .982
13 Jet Butler SS/2B S R SO Pensacola, FL 55 181 49 .271 1 24 16 0 .953
14 Ryan Duffy C L R SO West Melbourne, FL 42 121 37 .306 7 25 4 0 .980
15 Mark Goforth OF L R JR Covington, TN 46 101 31 .307 0 10 12 3 1.000
16 Will Coggin 2B R R JR Booneville, MS 8 4 0 .000 0 1 1 0 1.000
18 Jason Nappi OF R R FR Birmingham, AL 53 197 54 .274 8 37 32 1 .897
19 Andy Rice OF L L SR Amory, MS 31 61 16 .262 1 9 8 0 .972
20 Nick Hardy OF R R JR Flora, MS. 49 76 20 .263 2 13 14 2 .950
23 Cade Hoggard OF R R SO Oxford, MS 20 18 1 .056 0 0 5 0 1.000
25 Connor Powers 3B R R SO Naperville, IL 35 135 47 .348 11 38 18 2 .915
26 Scott DeLoach C R R JR Madison, MS 5 1 1 1.000 0 0 0 0 1.000
27 Jeff Flagg OF R R JR Jacksonville, FL 34 50 9 .180 1 6 9 0 1.000
29 Cody Freeman C R R FR Collinsville, MS 38 116 36 .310 2 20 15 1 1.000
36 Johnny Allen C R R JR Grenada, MS 22 47 12 .255 0 5 4 0 .979
38 Ryan Collins OF L L FR Callaway, FL 43 119 41 .345 3 23 26 3 .983
45 Michael Busby P/SS R R FR Vicksburg, MS 3 4 3 .750 0 1 0 0 1.000

Pitchers

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# Player T Yr Hometown G GS IP W L SV ERA H BB SO FLD%
4 Forrest Moore L FR Baton Rouge, LA 19 4 45.1 1 2 0 8.14 52 39 46 .900
6 Justin Pigott L SR Picayune, MS 9 9 44.2 2 3 0 5.04 51 16 44 1.000
9 Greg Houston R SO Hoover, AL 14 2 25.2 0 1 0 7.36 44 16 18 1.000
10 Andy Wilson L SR Columbus, GA 16 1 35.0 3 0 0 5.66 40 13 27 .778
12 Tyler Whitney L SO Lakeland, TN 10 5 20.0 0 2 0 10.80 29 19 20 1.000
17 Chad Crosswhite R JR Brandon, MS 19 11 53.1 3 5 0 9.96 82 27 36 .909
24 Jared Koon R JR Tupelo, MS 2 0 1.2 0 0 0 10.80 2 1 0 1.000
30 John Lalor R SR Germantown, TN 21 2 42.1 3 3 1 3.19 38 14 56 1.000
31 Ricky Bowen R SO Jasper, AL 15 13 73.1 3 6 0 7.61 84 41 64 .889
32 Aaron Weatherford R JR Crystal Springs, MS 18 0 31.2 3 1 7 0.85 10 10 62 1.000
34 Jesse Carver L SR Starkville, MS 15 2 33.2 1 1 0 9.09 57 14 27 1.000
35 Jared Wesson L JR Tupelo, MS 7 1 4.2 0 1 0 19.29 7 12 3 --
41 Lee Swindle R JR Eupora, MS 11 4 35.1 2 3 0 6.37 52 14 13 1.000
44 Drew Hollinghead R SO Leakesville, MS 6 2 10.0 1 1 0 6.30 8 9 5 1.000
45 Michael Busby R FR Vicksburg, MS 19 0 37.0 1 4 0 5.84 39 29 30 1.000

These players are on the roster, but did not appear in a game and were redshirted.

# Player Pos B T YR Hometown
28 Shawn Marquardt P R L FR Carmel, IN
33 Paxton Pace P/2B R L FR Collinsville, MS
42 Brent Brownlee OF R R FR Oxford, MS
48 Luke Adkins OF L L JR Nettleton, MS
49 Sean Johnson OF R R JR Senatobia, MS
50 Ryan Rubino SS/2B R R FR Bradenton, FL
51 Bobby Triglia 3B/C R R FR Jacksonville, FL

Schedule and results

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2008 Game Log
Regular Season
# Date Opponent Score Site/stadium Win Loss Save Attendance Record SEC
1 February 22 at North Florida 8-2 Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville Pigott (1-0) Pryor --- 1191 1-0
2 February 23 at North Florida 9-17 Harmon Stadium Raiford Wesson (0-1) Stohr 1121 1-1
3 February 24 at North Florida 6-11 Harmon Stadium Pryor Bowen (0-1) --- 1048 1-2
4 February 26 UAB 9-2 Dudy Noble Field F. Moore (1-0) Crawford Weatherford (1) 5810 2-2
5 March 1 Air Force 3-1 Dudy Noble Field Pigott (2-0) Truesdale Weatherford (2) 6866 3-2
6 March 1 Air Force 4-6 Dudy Noble Field Pingel Crosswhite (0-1) Petro 6866 3-3
7 March 2 Air Force 16-8 Dudy Noble Field Bowen (1-1) Petro --- 6438 4-3
8 March 4 Arkansas-Little Rock 5-9 Dudy Noble Field Klumpp F. Moore (1-1) --- 5657 4-4
9 March 5 Arkansas-Little Rock 6-3 Dudy Noble Field Carver (1-0) Rominger Lalor (1) 5851 5-4
10 March 9 Baylor 4-5 Dudy Noble Field Volz Pigott (2-1) Fritsch 6021 5-5
11 March 9 Baylor 11-16 Dudy Noble Field Tolleson Crosswhite (0-2) --- 6021 5-6
12 March 10 Baylor 3-6 Dudy Noble Field Kempf Bowen (1-2) Cassavechia 5622 5-7
13 March 11 Mississippi Valley State 15-0 Dudy Noble Field Swindle (1-0) Reid --- 5725 6-7
14 March 12 Mississippi Valley State 11-5 Dudy Noble Field Wilson (1-0) Gafford --- 5725 7-7
15 March 14 Ole Miss 6-15 Dudy Noble Field Lynn F. Moore (1-2) Morgan 6571 7-8 0-1
16 March 15 Ole Miss 6-11 Dudy Noble Field Bittle Lalor (0-1) --- 7482 7-9 0-2
17 March 16 Ole Miss 4-0 Dudy Noble Field Bowen (2-2) Baker --- 3025 8-9 1-2
18 March 18 at UAB 24-10 Young Memorial Field Swindle (2-0) Huddleston --- 575 9-9
19 March 21 at South Carolina 1-9 Sarge Frye Field Cisco Carver (1-1) --- 4810 9-10 1-3
20 March 22 at South Carolina 1-4 Sarge Frye Field Atwood Swindle (2-1) Todd 5029 9-11 1-4
21 March 23 at South Carolina 3-10 Sarge Frye Field Cooper Bowen (2-3) 4313 9-12 1-5
22 March 25 South Alabama 5-6 Dudy Noble Field LaGrow Houston (0-1) G.Johnson 5866 9-13
23 March 26 South Alabama 7-6(11) Dudy Noble Field Crosswhite (1-2) Dunning 6037 10-13
24 March 28 Georgia 3-2(10) Dudy Noble Field Crosswhite (2-2) Fields 7564 11-13 2-5
25 March 29 Georgia 1-5 Dudy Noble Field Dodson Swindle (2-2) 9424 11-14 2-6
26 March 30 Georgia 3-5(10) Dudy Noble Field McRee Lalor (0-2) Fields 6426 11-15 2-7
27 April 1 Austin Peay 13-4 Dudy Noble Field Wilson (2-0) Brisbin 5817 12-15
28 April 2 Austin Peay 10-2 Dudy Noble Field Holinghead (1-0) Kole 5862 13-15
29 April 4 at Kentucky 6-5 Cliff Hagan Stadium Lalor (1-2) Baber Weatherford (3) 14-15 3-7
30 April 5 at Kentucky 4-13 Cliff Hagan Stadium Green Swindle (2-3) 2772 14-16 3-8
31 April 6 at Kentucky 8-9 Cliff Hagan Stadium Paxton Busby (0-1) 2696 14-17 3-9
32 April 8 at Memphis 8-9(10) AutoZone Park Martin Busby (0-2) 729 14-18
33 April 11 Vanderbilt 8-15 Dudy Noble Field Minor Busby (0-3) 6330 14-19 3-10
34 April 12 Vanderbilt 0-16 Dudy Noble Field Cotham Bowen (2-4) 6165 14-20 3-11
35 April 13 Vanderbilt 3-4 Dudy Noble Field Christiani Lalor (1-3) Brewer 5827 14-21 3-12
36 April 15 vs. Ole Miss 6-5 Trustmark Park Weatherford (1-0) Baker 7862 15-21
37 April 19 at Alabama 7-21 Sewell-Thomas Stadium Hyatt Crosswhite (2-3) 15-22 3-13
38 April 19 at Alabama 6-4 Sewell-Thomas Stadium Lalor (2-3) Quigley Weatherford (4) 5215 16-22 4-13
39 April 20 at Alabama 3-4 Sewell-Thomas Stadium Graham Busby (0-4) 4201 16-23 4-14
40 April 22 at Southern Miss 7-11 Pete Taylor Park Johnston Whitney (0-1) Weathers 4525 16-24
41 April 23 at Southern Miss 7-12 Pete Taylor Park Ballinger Hollinghead (1-1) 4464 16-25
42 April 25 Tennessee 4-3(12) Dudy Noble Field Weatherford (2-0) Rosas 6170 17-25 5-14
43 April 26 Tennessee 9-12 Dudy Noble Field Morgado Bowen (2-5) 6174 17-26 5-15
44 April 27 Tennessee 7-3(8) Dudy Noble Field Lalor(3-3) Harris 6027 18-26 6-15
45 May 2 at Auburn 4-11 Samford Stadium Dayton Crosswhite (2-4) 2115 18-27 6-16
46 May 3 at Auburn 4-3 Samford Stadium Bowen (3-5) Thompson Weatherford(5) 2523 19-27 7-16
47 May 4 at Auburn 2-12 Samford Stadium Greinke Pigott (2-2) Woodall 2306 19-28 7-17
48 May 6 at MTSU 5-20 Reese Smith Field Alvis Whitney (0-2) Hyde 921 19-29
49 May 7 at MTSU 4-3 Reese Smith Field Busby(1-4) Francescon Weatherford(6) 713 20-29
50 May 9 at LSU 6-15 Alex Box Stadium Coleman Crosswhite(2-5) 8548 20-30 7-18
51 May 10 at LSU 4-16 Alex Box Stadium B. Martin Bowen(3-6) 8312 20-31 7-19
52 May 11 at LSU 6-9 Alex Box Stadium Bradford Pigott (2-3) Bradshaw 8701 20-32 7-20
53 May 13 Memphis 4-1 Dudy Noble Field Crosswhite (3-5) Martin Weatherford (7) 5731 21-32
54 May 15 Arkansas 6-5 Dudy Noble Field Weatherford(3-0) Wells 5865 22-32 8-20
55 May 16 Arkansas 6-5 Dudy Noble Field Wilson (3-0) Bolsinger 6177 23-32 9-20
56 May 17 Arkansas 10-15 Dudy Noble Field Mahler Weatherford(3-1) 6738 23-33 9-21

References

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  1. ^ "College Baseball Conference Standings – 2008". boydsworld.com. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  2. ^ "College Baseball Recruiting Results". Archived from the original on January 22, 2008. Retrieved February 28, 2008.
  3. ^ Diamond Dogs 24th In Preseason NCBWA Poll - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletics Site - MStateAthletics.com
  4. ^ Baseball Bulldogs 23rd In USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletics Site - MStateAthletics.com
  5. ^ State Ranked 19th In Rivals.com Preseason Baseball Poll - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletics Site - MStateAthletics.com
  6. ^ MSU's Turner Nabs Another All-America Honor; Diamond Dogs 27th In Collegiate Baseball Poll - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletics Site - MStateAthletics.com
  7. ^ Brandon Turner Named To Golden Spikes Award Watch List - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletics Site - MStateAthletics.com
  8. ^ MSU's Weatherford On Watch List For NCBWA Stopper Of The Year Award - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletics Site - MStateAthletics.com
  9. ^ Turner, Weatherford Represent MSU On Wallace Award Watch List - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletics Site - MStateAthletics.com
  10. ^ "Ron Polk Bio @ MStateAthletics.com". Archived from the original on September 20, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2008.
  11. ^ "Russ McNickle Bio @ MStateAthletics.com". Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2008.
  12. ^ "Tommy Raffo Bio @ MStateAthletics.com". Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved February 28, 2008.
  13. ^ Wade Hedges Bio @ MStateAthletics.com