OMAHA, Neb. – The 2013 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball squad has rewritten the record book. The team has posted multi-records and streaks, some of which have helped pace MSU to its ninth College World Series trip.
Head coach John Cohen has led MSU to its third straight postseason appearance. This year under Cohen the Dogs have reached a 50-win season for the fourth time in school history (1985, 1989, 1990), three of which Cohen played or coached.
Trevor Fitts recorded a season and career-high four strikeouts in MSU’s second game against Indiana in the CWS. The Dogs’ pitching staff also posted a team CWS record with a combined 14 strikeouts in the same win over the Hoosiers.
Chad Girodo has struck out 32 batters in the month of June, spanning three games. His regular-season high was six.
Brett Pirtle is riding a 41-game on base streak. Wes Rea and Trey Porter both delivered game-winning hits in the eighth inning against Oregon State and Indiana.
Adam Frazier has the most hits in school history (105), and sophomore closer Johnathan Holder is tied for the most career saves in the Maroon and White (29) and claimed the most saves in a single season (20).
But there’s one more record the Dogs seek to add to the season total which may be the crowing jewel.
MSU is just one win shy of the most wins in a CWS by a Bulldog team and playing for its first championship.
“(People) have said names like Palmeiro, Brantley and those guys who have been on that club. It’s great to be in that company but then again we’re trying to leave a legacy as well,” Rea said. “We’re not done yet. We’re in a good position when we’re one win away from the championship series. We’re going to block all that out and keep doing what we’re doing.”
The Bulldogs are no strangers to Omaha and the CWS. The Dogs are 9-16 in nine appearances, but no team has ever won three games in a single tournament. In its most recent visit in 2007, MSU lost its first two games to North Carolina and Louisville.
Junior outfielder Hunter Renfroe, who was a first-round pick in the Major League Baseball draft by the San Diego Padres, said he believes this team could be the one to make history in the CWS.
“I believe we could be the first. We have a great team,” Renfroe said. “We’re like a big family. I believe we have the best chemistry of any team we’ve ever had.”
In order to accomplish such feat, the Dogs will have to knock off the three-seed Oregon State. MSU beat OSU 5-4 in the first game of this year’s CWS.
With a win against OSU, the Dogs will find themselves in its first CWS championship game.
“We’ve had All-Americans, we’ve had Golden Spike Award winners, but the only thing we haven’t done is win a national championship,” Cohen said. “I think that’s great motivation for our players. You want to be the ones that actually did something that nobody else has ever done in the history of our baseball program.”
