The 2012 Mississippi State baseball team holds a promising future, and one theme tends to be trending among the players. Get to Omaha. Last year’s team almost conquered this feat – posting a 38-25 record and finishing No. 15 in the country in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll after a strong postseason run that fell one game shy of making it to the College World Series, and this year’s team has not forgotten. With the pitching staff guiding the team, fourth-year skipper John Cohen has plenty of reasons to have high hopes for his squad.
“I wouldn’t change our personnel for anybody,” Cohen said. “I think eventually it’s going to be a team that can compete for a national championship, but how quickly those guys get experience is going to be the key for it.”
With nine starters graduating or leaving early for the draft, this year’s club is full of new faces, especially in the infield. All four infield spots and the catcher position were vacant over the summer, making experience a key issue for newcomers.
Left-handed hitting junior college transfer Trey Porter is the likely candidate at first base as he has “tremendous power” and will provide a big target on the infield. Porter is also a strong offensive weapon, which will help replace some power hitters from a year ago.
The middle infielders will consist of Sam Frost and Adam Frazier who saw playing time last year and will anchor the infield defensively.
Daryl Norris and Demarcus Henderson are still battling for the opportunity to play at third base and are producing stiff competition for a starting role. Norris saw much playing time last year at first base, as designated hitter and spot pitched for the Dogs, while Henderson is one of the best athletes on the club according to Cohen.
“Everybody’s ultimate goal is to get to Omaha, but we have a lot to hold up to coming from last year,” Henderson said. “We’re lacking a lot of experience, but I feel like once we play a few games and get experience we’ll be just fine.”
Behind the plate junior college transfer Mitch Slauter is the contender to catch this year for the Bulldogs.
“He’s a great leader, very physical, great hitter but has never caught in an SEC game,” Cohen said. “Again, we love the pieces of the puzzle; we just need some experience there.”
Most of the Bulldogs’ defensive experience will come from the outfield where all three starters had a generous amount of playing time from last season, including C.T. Bradford who saw action on the field in all 63 games in the 2011 campaign. Co-captain Brent Brownlee, Taylor Stark and Bradford will see consistent playing time as well as returners Hunter Renfroe, Henderson and freshman Tyler Fullerton may also see some action in the outfield.
“This past fall was one of the best falls I have been a part of here at Mississippi State,”  Brownlee said. “We kind of have a chip on our shoulder being seven outs away from the College World Series last year, so we’ll come out and play tough and do our thing.”
The strength of the 2012 club will be the pitching staff as the Dogs only lost one letterman-winning pitcher from last year. Returning starters Chris Stratton, Nick Routt, Kendall Graveman and Evan Mitchell all return with valuable experience and hope to add strong arms for the rotation.
Returning utility players Stark, Norris, Bradford and Renfroe will add flexibility out of the bullpen as well as relievers Andrew Busby and last year’s wins leader Luis Pollorena.
“We’re a good group, and we’ve got a lot of good arms,” Busby said. “I really think besides our velocity, we’ve got a lot of guys, even our young guys, who are pretty sharp mentally and it will carry our team.”
Anchoring the pitching staff will be senior closer Caleb Reed who lead the team with a 1.55 earned run average and tallied 12 saves last year. Reed is also on the watch list for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award and is excited about this year’s pitching staff and has one goal in mind.
“I look on that board and I see where eight teams have already gone to Omaha for Mississippi State,” Reed said.  “Well, I want to be a part of the first team that wins that national championship when we go to Omaha. I want to go down as that number one team.”
MSU will face eight teams and play 19 games against opponents that earned an NCAA Regional Tournament appearance last year including series against two teams that made it to the championship game in South Carolina and Florida, both on the road. The Dogs open the season Feb. 17 as they host Washington State.