Hail State Unis - 2019 Baseball Season

2019 Mississippi State Baseball Uniforms Recap

Thu, 27 Jun 2019 02:53:52 GMT

Under the guidance of Chris Lemonis, the Bulldogs' fourth HC in four years, Mississippi State made its fourth consecutive Super Regional and second consecutive College World Series in 2019! In the final season of Bulldog legends Jake Mangum, Elijah MacNamee, Ethan Small, and Cole Gordon, State was a national seed and hosted all the way to Omaha, sweeping through a home regional and home Super Regional.

The Bulldogs wore four different jerseys (white STATE, white 85s, maroon 85s, "Nickelblack" black 85s) and five total combinations throughout their 2019 postseason run.

Black 85 over Black: 3-0 NCAAT Record, Regional Championship, Super Regional Championship
Maroon 85 over White: 2-0 NCAAT Record
50-style White STATE: 1-0 NCAAT Record
White 85: 0-1 NCAAT Record
Maroon 85 over Gray: 0-1 NCAAT Record

Mississippi State wore 9 uniform combinations in 2019, the most since the 2016 team also wore 9. The Bulldogs' 8 jerseys worn in 2019 was the most since 10 different jerseys were worn in 2015.

2019 Uniform Combinations:
50s-style White STATE
White 85s
White Pinstripes
Gray Pinstripes
Gray Sleeveless Vests
Maroon 85 over White Pants
Maroon 85 over Gray Pants
All-Black "Nickelblacks"
Alex Wilcox Teal

Additions in 2019:
50s-style White STATE
Gray Sleeveless Jersey
Solid Gray Pants
Alex Wilcox Teal Jersey
2019 White Pinstripe Jersey
2019 White 85 Jersey
2019 Maroon 85 Jersey
2019 Black 85 Jersey
2019 White Pants
2019 Black Pants
2019 Black Hat

Subtractions from 2018:
Maroon MS Jersey
2018 White Pinstripe Jersey
2018 White 85 Jersey
2018 Maroon 85 Jersey
2018 Black 85 Jersey
2018 White Pants
2018 Black Pants
2018 Black Hat

Read more below for a more in-depth look at Mississippi State's 2019 Baseball Uniforms

Mississippi State's 2019 Baseball Uniforms

Maroon 85 over White Pants
12 Games, 10-2 (.833) Record
The maroon 85 jerseys saw a few changes in 2019, including thinner sleeve stripes, the addition of the M over S logo to the sleeve, and a few other minor details. The changes, which resulted in the sixth iteration of the "maroon 85" design, were an overall improvement in my opinion, with the thinner sleeve stripes resulting in a better, tighter fit and the M over S logo on the sleeve giving the jersey a more complete, professional look.

Mississippi State wore the maroon 85 jerseys 19 times in 2019, more than any other jersey, though fewer than the amount of times that maroon jerseys have been worn in recent seasons (23 times in 2018, 40 times in 2017, and 27 times in 2016). Of the 19 games in which the maroon jerseys were worn in 2019, white pants were worn in 12. In those 12 games, the Bulldogs achieved an impressive 10-2 record.

Unlike recent seasons, in which maroon jerseys had been worn in every single Friday game, in 2019 the maroon jerseys were worn exclusively on days on which Ethan Small pitched (which were usually, but not always, a Friday.) In the regular season, Small wore the maroon 85 jerseys in every single one of his starts. There was only one regular season game in which the maroon 85 jerseys were worn but Ethan Small did not pitch; that was the second game of the Friday DH against Maine, after Small had pitched earlier that day.

The College World Series schedule complicated that precedent, as Mississippi State's opening game, in which Ethan Small was projected to and did start, was played on a Sunday. This caused a dilemma, as Mississippi State had worn (and was undefeated in) black in every single Sunday game in 2019. Small wanted to pitch in his usual maroon 85s, but gave in and pitched in black for the only time all season. Small didn't have a great outing, but the Bulldogs still pulled out the win. Later in Omaha, against Louisville, Mississippi State would wear the maroon 85 jerseys with JT Ginn on the mound, marking the first and only day all season on which the maroon 85s were worn but Ethan Small did not pitch.

White 85s
12 Games, 9-3 (.750) Record
The white 85s were similarly updated in 2019, resulting in the fifth iteration of the design. The "white 85" has always been my favorite Mississippi State baseball uniform design, and I'm pretty confident in saying that this is the best that it's ever looked (the 2012-2014 look is the only one that rivals it.) It's simply a stunning baseball uniform; I was so happy to see it worn in Omaha this year, it looked even more incredible with the colorful College World Series patch.

At only 8 appearances, I thought that the 2018 version of the white 85s didn't see the field enough. In 2019, not only did the white 85s look even better, but they saw significant usage. At 12 appearances on the year, they tied the maroon 85 over white combination for the most games worn in 2019.

They weren't worn much early in the season; splitting midweek games with the white pinstripes, the white 85s were only worn once prior to the start of conference play. However, once conference play began, they became the sole midweek home uniforms; by the end of the season, they had been worn in eight midweek games, all of which were wins. The white 85s made their 2019 SEC debut in the regular season finale against South Carolina, and were subsequently worn in two SEC Tournament games, including the 17-inning victory over LSU. In their final appearance of the season, the white 85s were worn in Omaha against Vanderbilt; it was the first time that the "white 85" design had been worn in Omaha since the originals in 1985.

All-Black "Nickelblacks"
10 Games, 10-0 (1.000) Record
With similar changes as the white and maroon 85s, the 2019 black jerseys were easily the best of the five different black jersey designs that Mississippi State has worn over the past 11 seasons.

The 2019 changes significantly improved the black jerseys, more so than with any other jersey. The smaller sleeve stripes and tighter fit helped prevent the "baggy" look on all three 85-style jerseys, but it was probably the most noticeable with the black jerseys. The color was much better on the black jerseys in 2019; the 2018 versions appeared washed out by the end of the season and didn't even match the color of the pants, creating what was honestly a pretty rough look. That was not a problem in 2019.

The black jerseys also had a couple of additional changes in 2019 that the maroon and white jerseys did not have. One of those was the addition of maroon outlines around the numbers/wordmark/logo, around the hat logo and pants stripe, and in-between the collar/sleeve stripes. The 2018 all-black uniforms featured absolutely no maroon, which at the time I said was a benefit, as maroon and black typically don't mix well. While that is true, I will admit that I was wrong on that front; the black uniforms look much better with the maroon outlines than they did without them.

The other big change was the addition of player names on the back of the black jerseys. The black jerseys were the only ones to feature player names in 2019, and were the first Mississippi State baseball uniform to feature player names since the white M over S jerseys in 2016. This is another thing that I'm a fan of; I've always said that if Mississippi State is to do black uniforms, there has to be something unique about them to give them a redeeming quality; player names do that here.

The other redeeming quality of the all-black uniforms, colloquially known as the "Nickelblacks", is the fact that, quite simply, Mississippi State wins in them. The Bulldogs first wore all-black uniforms back in 2015, in a win over Western Kentucky. After that one game, the black pants were shelved until they were brought back for a midweek game last season, that time in a win over New Mexico State. A few weeks later, they were worn in a rubber match against Ole Miss; Luke Alexander hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th to win the series, cementing the black uniforms as a good luck charm. They were subsequently worn in every single game 3 for the rest of the season, including the CWS-clinching game 3 of the Nashville Super Regional. In 11 appearances in 2018, the all-black uniforms finished with an 8-3 record.

In 2019, with the aforementioned upgrades to the all-black uniforms, they were an improved look that was already associated with success. Whereas in 2018, the all-black uniforms were worn in game 3s from the Ole Miss series onward, regardless of the day of the week (though it was always either Saturday or Sunday), they were exclusive to Sundays in 2019. In fact, the Nickelblacks and Sunday baseball games were mutually inclusive in 2019. That is, Mississippi State played 10 Sunday baseball games in 2019, and the all-black uniforms were worn in all 10 of those games, but only those 10 games. I love how they set up that schedule this year; it allowed for multiple weeks where black was not worn (due to either scheduled Thursday-Saturday series or weather-related rescheduling) and allowed for a "special" feeling on Nickelback Sundays. It was a much more nuanced approach than the "wear black every single weekend" one taken in the second half of 2018.

Not only did the Bulldogs match their 2018 success in black, but they topped it. In fact, Mississippi State was a perfect 10-0 on Nickelback Sundays in 2019, never losing a game despite facing some tough competition in Sunday games. Once again, the Bulldogs dogpiled as Super Regional champions in all-black, and this time they even picked up a win in Omaha while wearing the combination. Mississippi State is now 19-3 all-time while wearing all-black baseball uniforms, including 5-1 in NCAA tournament games.

As someone who thinks that black pants should never be worn on a baseball field (and would still like to see the black pants ditched ASAP in favor of white/gray pants), even I was able to embrace the winning ways of the Nickelblacks this season. The upgrades made this offseason were a big part of that, so kudos to those who made that happen.

50s-style White STATE
9 Games, 8-1 (.889) Record
Based on the design worn from 1950 to 1958, the white STATE uniforms were a new addition to Mississippi State's baseball uniform lineup in 2019. The solid white uniforms feature a button-up jersey with "STATE" arched across the chest in a block font. The sleeves feature a single, thick stripe, matching the pants stripe. Otherwise, with the M over S logo on the sleeve and State of MS outline and player number on back, they match the design of the Bulldogs' other white jerseys.

Worn as the primary "Game 2" uniform in home weekend series, the 50s-style White STATE uniforms were worn 9 times in 2019. They were worn in every home regular season weekend series except for the Maine series, in which a Friday doubleheader was played due to expected rain on Saturday. They were worn once in the postseason, in the the opening game of the Starkville Regional against Southern. They finished with a stellar 8-1 record in 2019, with the lone loss coming against LSU.

Gray Pinstripes
8 Games, 4-4 (.500) Record
The only uniforms to return verbatim from 2018, the Gray Pinstripes are the longest-tenured baseball uniforms in Mississippi State's lineup. Worn since 2016, the Gray Pins were in their fourth year of use in 2019, and were the only uniforms to be worn for Jake Mangum's entire career. They're the longest running Mississippi State baseball uniforms since the 2010-2014 maroon 85 and white vest jerseys were worn for five seasons.

Serving as the Bulldogs' primary gray uniform and game 2 road jersey in 2019, the Gray Pins were worn in 8 games, including two doubleheaders (at Florida and at Texas A&M.) At 4-4, the Gray Pins were the only uniforms that did not finish with a winning record in 2019; the fact that .500 is a low point for uniform records is a great indicator of just how good Mississippi State was in 2019. It's worth noting that the Gray Pins were not worn after May 4th; the Bulldogs were at home for the most part afterwards, and only even wore gray (vests) once after that date.

Maroon 85 over Gray Pants
7 Games, 4-3 (.571) Record
After a three year absence, solid gray pants returned to Mississippi State's baseball uniform lineup in 2019. Since 2016, one of my biggest pet-peeves about State's baseball uniforms has been the fact that they continuously paired maroon jerseys with white pants on the road, which is a baseball taboo. Traditionally, the home team wears white pants and the road team wears gray pants.

As such, the return of solid gray pants was one of the more satisfying uniform changes of 2019; after three years of white pants being frequently worn on the road, Mississippi State wore gray (or occasionally black) pants in every road game and every neutral site game in which State was the designated "away" team. There was one game in 2019 in which State was the designated "away" team but wore white pants: game two of the Starkville Regional against Central Michigan, but I don't have a problem with that since the game was played on the Bulldogs' home field.

The maroon 85 over gray combination was worn 5 times in the regular season to a 4-1 record. It was worn twice in the postseason: in the SEC Tournament loss to Vanderbilt and in the final game of the season in Omaha against Louisville. In all, the combination finished with a 4-3 record in 2019.

White "State" Pinstripes
5 Games, 4-1 (.800) Record
Mississippi State's primary white uniform in 2017 and 2018 returned in 2019, with a few small tweaks. The altering of the M over S sleeve logo, movement of the Adidas logo, and enlarging of the State outline on the back resulted in the seventh white pinstripe uniform design in program history, though at a distance it was virtually indistinguishable from the 2017/2018 version.

The fan-favorite white pinstripes were the Bulldogs' primary midweek uniform early in the season, and were worn in four midweek wins (including one over Super Regional team ECU) within the first month of the season. They were later worn in game 3 of the LSU series on March 30th. They were not worn again after that, and were mysteriously absent for the final three months of the season.

I have yet to see a reason as to why they were seemingly removed from the uniform lineup mid-season. They clearly had a reduced role in 2019, but I had expected them to continue to split midweek games with the white 85s, be worn in the Saturday game 3 at the end of the season, and perhaps make a couple of postseason appearances. I'm sure that there is a perfectly legit reason as to why they disappeared, but that has not been made public. It will be interesting to see if they re-surface next season.

Note that a similar thing happened to the white pinstripe jerseys in 2014; they were worn three times early in the season but did not appear after the March 9th win at Arizona. The pinstripe pants continued to be worn occasionally with maroon jerseys that season, but the tops were never worn again (State completely re-vamped its uniform lineup in 2015); this season, the pinstripe pants were never paired with maroon jerseys, before or after the jerseys stopped being worn.

Gray Sleeveless Vests
3 Games, 2-1 (.667) Record
The last new uniform that the Bulldogs unveiled in 2019 was a new gray sleeveless vest. First worn in the March 20th game at Samford, the gray vests are the fourth sleeveless design in program history. Also the first solid gray uniforms since the 2015 90s-style gray script jerseys, these feature the M over S logo (in maroon and outlined in white) on the right chest due to the Adidas logo being on the left chest.

Overall, these are pretty "okay." It's a look that Lemonis and Coordinator of Baseball Operations Roger Rodeheaver brought from Indiana. They don't really look bad; I don't hate vest uniforms in general, and the color balance between gray and maroon is excellent. The "flipped" front doesn't inherently look any worse, it just looks "wrong" to have the M over S logo not be on the left chest. Honestly, they're a decent secondary road option, but there's better things State can do with a solid gray jersey, namely the aforementioned 90s-style script design.

Given that the gray pinstripes were still the primary gray uniform in 2019, the gray vests were very much a secondary option. As such they were only worn three times throughout the season, but still managed to finish with a winning record at 2-1.

Alex Wilcox Teal
1 Game, 1-0 (1.000) Record
In what was easily the most thoughtful one-off baseball uniform Mississippi State has ever worn, the Bulldogs wore teal jerseys against Arkansas Pine Bluff on March 6th. The teal jerseys with white shoulders were worn in memory of Alex Wilcox, a Mississippi State softball player who passed away in June 2018 from ovarian cancer. After the game, the jerseys were auctioned off to the public, with all proceeds donated to the Alex Wilcox Excellence Fund.

The Bulldogs defeated Arkansas Pine Bluff 14-1 while wearing the teal jerseys; they join the 10-0 Nickelback uniforms as the Bulldogs' two undefeated looks in 2019.

For more on Mississippi State's baseball uniform history, visit the Baseball Uniform History page.

For more Mississippi State's postseason baseball uniform history, visit the Postseason Uniform History page.

Ranking the 2019 Uniforms
As I have in the past, I conducted a series of Twitter polls this past week in order to gauge people's opinions on State's 2019 uniform lineup. Thank you to everyone who participated; this year's polls had far more votes than any polls I've run in the past! All of last year's polls received between 338 and 465 votes; the least voted in of this year's five polls received 650 votes, while the most voted in received 1,267 votes!

For the second year in a row, the white "State" pinstripes were named the #1 fan-favorite uniform. You probably could've guessed that based on the craze that ensued when the replica versions were finally put back on sale earlier this month. People love those things, and for good reason: they're an elite-level college baseball uniform.

Best White Uniform
White "State" Pinstripes 50%
White 85s 30%
50s-style White STATE 20%

Best Gray Uniform
Gray Pinstripes 80%
Gray Sleeveless Vests 20%

Best Maroon Jersey Combination
White Pants 68%
Gray Pants 32%

Best Overall Uniform
White Pinstripes 37%
Maroon 85 over White 31%
Nickelblacks 22%
Gray Pinstripes 10%

Runoff:
White Pinstripes 61%
Maroon 85 over White 39%

Though the gap is closer than last year, the white pinstripes are clearly still the majority of people's favorite uniform. The white 85s are pretty well liked, but not to the level of the white pins. The 50s-style white STATE jerseys are also generally regarded as a solid look, but are a clear #3 in the white jersey pecking order.

People overwhelmingly like the gray pinstripes more than the gray sleeveless vests; they voted the maroon 85 over white combination as better than maroon 85 over gray, but many expressed happiness that gray pants are back for road games. In the overall polls, the all-black "Nickelblack" uniforms garnered 22% of the vote, much higher than the 9% they received last year; winning 10 games and never losing in a uniform will do that. The maroon 85 jerseys were the clear second-best uniform in the public's eye; they received 31% in the overall poll and 39% in the runoff with the white pinstripes.

So how would I rank State's 2019 baseball uniforms? I think that the proper way to do this (and uniform rankings in general) is not in a best-to-worst list but by grouping jerseys into tiers. Bulldog Graphics and I had a conversation about this on Twitter back in March, and I haven't really changed my opinion since:

Elite:
White 85s
Maroon 85s
White Pinstripes

These three uniforms are Mississippi State's best and are among the three best uniforms in college baseball. They've been tweaked and perfected over the years, and hopefully will remain in State's uniform lineup for the foreseeable future.

Very Good:
50s-style White STATE
Gray Pinstripes

These are above-average college baseball uniforms that are better than a number of uniforms State has worn in the past and would be the best in many current college baseball uniform sets. They aren't quite on the level of State's three "elite" uniforms, but nobody's complaining when these uniforms are worn.

Okay:
Gray Sleeveless Vests
Black Jerseys

These aren't great, but they aren't total train wrecks either. As I noted above, the gray vests would look better "flipped" and aren't as good as State's other gray jersey designs. That being said, there isn't anything egregious about them. On their own, the 2019 black jerseys are by far the best black baseball jerseys State has ever worn. The fact that they're always worn with black pants brings them down into "bad" territory, but their pristine record brings them back up to "okay."

I didn't include the teal jerseys in the rankings because they were one-off jerseys whose main purpose was not aesthetics. That being said, they did actually look better than some of State's past one-off jerseys, and would've probably fit into the "okay" tier.

General Thoughts / Looking Forward to 2020
Overall, 2019 was a very good season for Mississippi State baseball, both in terms of on-field results and uniforms. With three elite-level jerseys and two more really good ones, Mississippi State consistently looked great in 2019. Two years removed from wearing the maroon M over S jerseys 40 times in a single season, the uniform distribution was really good in 2019. Six of the Bulldogs' jerseys were worn 5 times or more, and the same uniform was very rarely worn in back-to-back games. The main exception to that rule was the 4 weather-induced regular season doubleheaders; unlike the past two seasons in which State had always changed uniforms in-between doubleheader games, the Bulldogs always remained in the same uniforms for game two of a doubleheader in 2019. The two other exceptions both involved postseason play: the white 85s were worn in the regular season finale as well as the SEC Tournament opener, and the Nickelblacks were worn in the final game of the Starkville Super Regional and then in the opening game in Omaha.

I know this has been a lot of information; s/o to anyone still reading this, but hopefully this is the last year for a while in which there's a lot of turnover with State's baseball uniforms. With the new coaching staff this year, State had 7 brand-new jerseys and 9 total combinations; that's a lot. Hopefully most of those uniforms will remain unchanged over the next few seasons, and the future uniform recaps will just be repeating how great most of State's uniforms are rather than noting countless tweaks like this year's was. Particularly, I hope to see the maroon and white 85s remain unchanged for the next few years, and hope that some form of white pinstripes (be it the script "State" or "M over S logo" versions) remain in the uniform lineup. I expect that the 50s-style white STATE uniforms and Nickelbacks will both return in 2020. It will be interesting to see if the all-black uniforms fade away over time or remain a staple on Sundays for years to come. Normally trends like that would fade away, but with a 10-0 record this year and two Super Regional dogpiles in a row, this one might have some staying power.

I feel like this is the third year in a row that I've said gray pinstripes might not come back, but next year would be their fifth year of use. It seems unlikely that they will remain unchanged next year, but at this point it wouldn't surprise me if they continue to stick around. Their obvious replacement would be the gray sleeveless vests, which saw limited use in 2019 but could conceivably be the Bulldogs' primary gray uniform in 2020. I hope for future uniforms, they find a way to get the Adidas logo back on the right chest; it just looks so much better to have the M over S logo on the left chest with that design. What I would like to see with State's gray uniforms is a return to the 90s-style gray script uniforms. That style was last worn in 2015; hopefully it returns sometime within the next five years.

2019 was a great year for Mississippi State baseball, and I enjoyed it from start to finish. Can't wait to see what's in store next year, both in terms of uniforms and on-field production. Hail State!

On-Field Recap
Mississippi State came into 2019 with Omaha expectations and met those expectations. Coming off of an unexpected Omaha run in 2018, Mississippi State hired Chris Lemonis to be its 18th head coach in program history, and fourth in four years. The roster was loaded coming into the season: superstar Jake Mangum elected to come back for his senior season, Cole Gordon decided to come back for a fifth year, Ethan Small returned to school poised to be the team's ace pitcher, JT Ginn turned down a first-round MLB draft pick to come to school, Elijah "Big Hit Mac" MacNamee would be a senior, and the talented freshman class of Rowdey Jordan, Tanner Allen, Justin Foscue, Jordan Westburg, and Josh Hatcher would be sophomores. Everything was lining up for a special season in Starkville, and a special season it was.

Along with featuring a loaded roster and marking the start of Lemonis's tenure, 2019 was also notable for the opening of the completely re-built Dudy Noble Field. After playing a limited home schedule through construction in 2018, it was refreshing to play a full home slate in a beautiful new ballpark this season. As a student who was able to attend almost all of the home games, it was really fun being able to walk around and sit in different locations throughout the stadium; the New Dude provides such a wide variety of ways to enjoy a baseball game. Not only is the new stadium beautiful, but Mississippi State was dominant in it. The Bulldogs finished 2019 with a 37-5 (.881) home record, including 11-4 and four series wins in SEC play, as well as 5-0 in postseason play as State was able to host (and sweep) both a Regional and Super Regional in the first year of the New Dude.

Mississippi State started out the season dominantly, as Ethan Small and JT Ginn lived up to the hype, mowing down non-conference opponents with ease. The Bulldogs entered SEC Play with a 16-1 record and finished the regular season with a 25-1 non-conference record, and a perfect 15-0 record in midweek games; it was the first season since 2013 in which Mississippi State never failed to take care of business in the midweek. The Bulldogs' lone regular season non-conference loss in 2019 was in the Friday game against Southern Miss, which the Golden Eagles won 1-0 in 10 innings; State would win on Saturday and Sunday to win the series. State would not lose another game to a non-SEC until the final game of the season, when they were walked off by Louisville in Omaha; including tournament games, State finished the 2019 season with a 30-2 record against non-conference opponents.

The Bulldogs also saw success in conference play in 2019, finishing with a 20-10 SEC record and an SEC West Co-Championship. Mississippi State won 8 out of 10 SEC series in 2019; the only two series the Bulldogs lost all season were at home against LSU (State seems to have a mental block against the Tigers on the baseball diamond) and on the road at Arkansas (In their worst weekend of the season, State was swept by an Arkansas team that is as dominant at Baum as the Bulldogs are at the Dude). Highlights of the SEC season included sweeps over Alabama, Georgia, and Ole Miss and series wins over Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and South Carolina. The sweep in Oxford was a particularly highpoint; when combined with the Governor's Cup victory (the Bulldogs' fourth in a row), the sweep gave State a 14-2 record against Ole Miss over the past four seasons.

The Bulldogs' regular season accomplishments earned them a top-8 national seed in the NCAA Tournament. It was the second time since the format was enacted in 1999 that the Bulldogs had been named a top-8 national seed; just as they were in 2016, they were named the #6 national seed. In the 14th ever Starkville Regional (5th in the current 4-team format), Mississippi State defeated Southern, Central Michigan, and Miami en route to the 9th overall and 3rd home Super Regional in program history. In the 2019 Starkville Super Regional, State swept the #11 national seed Stanford in two games, advancing to the College World Series for the 11th time in program history and second season in a row.

In Omaha, Mississippi State scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk-off Auburn and win their third consecutive opening-round CWS game. Unfortunately, that is where the run ended, as they were defeated by eventual National Champion Vanderbilt in the winner's bracket game and were then walked-off by Louisville in the ensuing elimination game. The Bulldogs finished the 2019 season with a 52-15 record (the second highest win total in program history), yet another Omaha appearance, a slew of records for Jake Mangum, national awards for Mangum, Ethan Small, Justin Foscue, and Tanner Allen, and tons of memories for fans, players, and coaches alike to cherish.

2019 College World Series: Bulldogs Walk-Off Auburn in #Nickelblacks, Wear Classic Maroon and White 85 Looks

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 16:59:41 GMT

Mississippi State's second consecutive trip to the College World Series did not end with the Bulldogs hoisting the National Championship trophy, but it did cement another Bulldog team among one of the greatest in program history.

State picked up its 52nd victory of the season in the opening game of its 11th Omaha appearance, defeating the Auburn Tigers after trailing three runs heading into the ninth inning. Unfortunately, that's where the luck ended, as the Bulldogs were defeated by an all-around star-studded Vanderbilt squad and were then the victim of a come-from-behind victory by Louisville, despite a great outing from Freshman phenom JT Ginn.

The back-to-back losses ended the careers of Bulldog legends Jake Mangum, Elijah Macnamee, Ethan Small, and Cole Gordon, among others, but their careers will always be remembered for an immense amount of success, not to mention their absolutely perfect final games at Dudy Noble Field last weekend against Stanford.

Game 1: Auburn: Nickelblacks
When the CWS schedule was first announced, one of the first things I thought about was the dilemma of what uniform to wear. The Bulldogs’ opening round game against Auburn was scheduled for Sunday night, and Ethan Small was pretty much immediately named as the starting pitcher. The dilemma here is simple: Mississippi State had worn black jerseys in every single Sunday game this season, amassing a 9-0 record over those games, but Ethan Small had worn the maroon 85 jerseys in every single one of his starts, churning out one of the best seasons on the mound in college baseball history.

When I first tweeted about that dilemma on that Sunday night, it was mostly facetious, as I figured we would go with the Sunday blacks without much deliberation. However, that tweet got a good bit of attention, and the dilemma was picked up by MSU beat reporter Brett Hudson, who talked about it on his Dogpile podcast and actually asked Ethan Small about it. At the time, Small said he hadn’t made up his mind yet, mentioning that he preferred the maroon 85s but would possibly go with black if that’s what the rest of the team wanted.

When Sunday rolled around, the answer to the dilemma was finally revealed: the Bulldogs would be going with the “Nickelblacks” for the 10th time on the 10th Sunday game of the season. It was the first time all season that Ethan Small had pitched in anything other than the maroon 85 jerseys; he had actually pitched in all-black once before, in the final game of the 2018 season, a 5-2 loss to Oregon State in Omaha last season.

For most of the game, the decision to force Ethan Small to wear black looked like a bad one. Small went 5 innings and gave up three runs, which for most pitchers is a decent outing, but for Small was one of the worst of the season. The Bulldogs actually entered the bottom of the 9thdown 4-1, and the Nickelbacks’ perfect record looked to be about to meet its end. However, doubles by Jake Mangum and Elijah MacNamee, along with less than stellar infield defense for Auburn, set up for a walk-off Marshall Gilbert single to gave Mississippi State a 5-4 victory.

Tyler Horka wrote a great article postgame with quotes from the players on the “magic” of wearing all-black uniforms in Sunday games. Some of the highlights, from Peyton Plumlee: “On Sundays, we wear black. Smalls tried to fight it, he lost, we wore blacks and we won. That's how that went”, Jake Mangum: “I made my point to Ethan that we need to wear blacks. And we did. And we just walked off in the bottom of the ninth”, and Ethan Small: “I will never wear these uniforms ever again in my life. I’m sticking to my maroons from now on.” You can watch these quotes in the embedded tweet from Mackenzie Salmon.

Are the #Nickelblacks uniforms magical? Mississippi State players seem to think so...

"I will never wear these uniforms again in my life," said @E7hanS. pic.twitter.com/6PPjZD7oBM
— Mackenzie Salmon (@mackenziesalmon) June 17, 2019

Seeing how much Ethan Small didn’t want to go with the all-blacks makes me realize how close we actually were to seeing maroon 85s on the field Sunday night. And again, I always assumed that it would be black because it was on Sunday. As someone who thinks the maroon 85s are some of the best uniforms in college baseball and that black pants should pretty much never be worn in baseball, I would’ve loved to have seen that. But as is, we’re playing in the winner’s bracket of the College World Series, so I am absolutely not complaining.

Speaking of complaining, ESPN College Football analyst Rece Davis was not a fan of State’s all-black look (or Auburn’s camo hats). State fans pretty much lit him up on Twitter, which is fair, considering he almost certainly didn’t do any research into State’s “Nickelblack” tradition over the past few seasons. But in principle, I pretty much agree with his tweet; if you had told me two years ago that Mississippi State would be wearing all-black uniforms in the opening game of the College World Series I would’ve thought you were crazy. And, honestly, I would still muchrather see school colors worn throughout the postseason, especially when our more classic uniforms are arguably the best in college baseball.

However, superstition is real in baseball, and when the players are into it and the stats bear it out, I’m not going to be one to complain. The stats on all-black uniforms for MSU are now:

10-0 in 2019 (Exclusively worn on Sunday games)
3-0 in the 2019 NCAA Tournament
19-3 all-time (2015, 2018, 2019)
4-1 all-time in the postseason
1-1 all-time in the College World Series

Don’t forget that State actually updated the black jerseys this season; this year’s versions are much improved from last year’s, with maroon accents, smaller sleeve stripes that negate the “baggy” look from last season, player names on the back, M over S logo on the sleeve, and black batting helmets. Honestly, these improvements were a major contributor to me warming up to the so-called “Nickelblacks”; I think I would probably be more critical if we had kept last year’s exact look.

One last note about Sunday night’s win over Auburn: it was only the second time all season that State had worn the same uniform in back-to-back non-DH games, and both times, the second game of the sequence was a walk-off victory. The first time it happened was when the white 85s were worn in the regular season finale against South Carolina and then again in the SEC Tournament opener, which was a 17-inning walk-off win over LSU. This time, the all-black uniforms were worn in the Super Regional game 2 win over Stanford and then again in the College World Series opening walk-off win over Auburn.

Game 2: Vanderbilt: White 85s
Playing in the winner's bracket game in Omaha for the third time in seven seasons, Mississippi State took on yet another familiar SEC opponent, the SEC Regular Season and Tournament champion Vanderbilt Commodores.

The Bulldogs won the coin flip and as a result were designated as the "home" team for the matchup. As such, the Bulldogs wore white uniforms, electing to go with the white 85s for the first time in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. It was the first time that the true white 85 design had been worn in a postseason game since the original versions (note that the "inverted" white 85s were worn in 5 games throughout the 2016 and 2017 postseasons), and the first time that the white 85 design had been worn in Omaha since, appropriately, 1985.

I've said multiple times that the white 85s are my favorite Mississippi State baseball uniform design; the all-white look is just so clean, and the "85" wordmark is classic Mississippi State. The current pullover design with the thinner sleeve stripes and M over S on the sleeves pretty much brings it to perfection. Add the College World Series patch on there, and I could make an argument that this is single best baseball uniform that Mississippi State has ever worn. You can see Kelly Donoho's full gallery of the game for Mississippi State Athletics here, it was really an incredible look.

As it usually seems to go with Mississippi State, the better the uniform looks, the less positive the result, as Vanderbilt utilized a 5-run 5th inning to take a 6-3 win over the Bulldogs. The loss dipped the Bulldogs' 2019 record in the white 85s to 9-3, including 0-1 in the NCAA Tournament and 1-2 in the postseason (SEC + NCAA Tournaments). At 12 appearances on the year, the white 85s finished tied for the most appearances of a single uniform combination in 2019, along with the maroon 85 over white combination (10-2).

Game 3: Louisville: Maroon 85s with Gray Pants
In an elimination game against Louisville, Mississippi State was the designated "away" team for the first time in Omaha. As such, the Bulldogs wore gray pants for the first time in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, and paired them with the maroon 85 jerseys, which had not yet been worn in Omaha.

This the first time that the Bulldogs had worn solid gray pants in an NCAA Tournament game since 2014, and the first time in Omaha since 2013. It was the first time that the maroon 85 design had been worn with gray pants in Omaha since game 2 against UCLA in 2013, and the first time with the pullover design since the 5-4 win over Arkansas in 1985.

Thursday was the first day all season in which the maroon 85 jerseys had been worn on a day in which Ethan Small did not pitch. There was only regular season game all season in which the maroon 85s were worn but Small did not pitch: game 2 of the Friday doubleheader with Maine, in which JT Ginn started, but Small had pitched in game 1 earlier that day. With Ginn starting (and pitching a very good scoreless six innings), the maroon 85s were still always worn in a game where Small or Ginn pitched.

Just like the white 85s, the maroon 85 over gray combo looked incredible with the College World Series patch. Some have pointed out the contrast caused by the lack of gray on the maroon jerseys, but I don't mind, and actually think the contrast looks pretty sharp. There's a similar contrast with the numbers on the football uniforms (though they do feature gray in the stripes) and the gray pants, but that combination is still widely-regarded as the Bulldogs' best. It bothered me much more in previous seasons when we would just always wear white pants with the maroon jerseys, even on the road. Honestly, this year's incarnation of the maroon 85 jerseys are very-well designed and look impeccable with both white and gray pants; maybe next year we can see them paired with pinstripe pants. Here's a link to the official photo gallery from the Louisville game; I still can't get over how beautiful that patch is on those uniforms. Hopefully this continues to be a yearly occurrence!

Sadly, despite leading most of the game, Mississippi State fell to Louisville in the bottom of the 9th, bringing the 2019 campaign to a close. The maroon 85s finished with a 14-5 overall record in 2019, including 4-3 when paired with gray pants. Overall, the Bulldogs wore 9 different uniform combinations in 2019 (12 counting those worn with the CWS patch separately), 8 of them finishing with a winning record, the lone holdout being the gray pinstripes at .500 (4-4).

With that, Mississippi State's historic 2019 baseball season has concluded. I'll put together a complete season recap article within the next week or so, but for now, you can find the completed 2019 Baseball Season Game-by-Game Uniform Graphic below.

Mississippi State Sweeps Stanford, Advances to Omaha for Second Consecutive Season

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 00:06:47 GMT

For the second year in a row, Mississippi State baseball is headed to Omaha, Nebraska in the month of June! After sweeping the Starkville Regional last weekend, the Bulldogs followed through with a 2-game sweep of Stanford in the Starkville Super Regional. The Bulldogs' 5-0 record thus far in the NCAA Tournament marks the first time that the Bulldogs have hosted *and* swept all the way to Omaha; they last went 5-0 en route to Omaha in 2007, but were on the road in the regional round that season. It was a stark contrast to last season, when the Bulldogs lost the opening game in the Tallahassee Regional as well as the second game of the Nashville Super Regional, but still managed to claw their way to Omaha.

The 2019 Starkville Super Regional began on Saturday Night, as Ethan Small took the mound for the Bulldogs. As the home team and with Small on the mound, Mississippi State wore the maroon 85 jerseys with white pants in Saturday's opening game. After allowing a run in the first inning, Small settled down and pitched 6 full innings, leaving the game with a 6-1 lead. The Bulldogs' bullpen closed out the game, winning the contest 6-2 and giving Small the victory. The win improved the Bulldogs' 2019 record in the maroon 85 jerseys to 14-4, and 10-2 when paired with white pants.

On Sunday, the Bulldogs broke out the "Nickelblacks" as they attempted to clinch an Omaha bid and dogpile in black for the second consecutive season. They achieved that goal in emphatic fashion: Peyton Plumlee dealt out 6.2 scoreless, hitless innings after giving up a leadoff homer, Dustin Skelton played incredible defense behind the plate and delivered a based-clearing triple in the third inning, Jake Mangum had two hits, including a single in his final at-bat in Dudy Noble (which led off the 9th, following the final playing of "Your Love"), Elijah MacNamee finished his career at Dudy Noble in incredible storybook fashion, smashing a three run homer in the top of the 9th, and fifth year senior closer Cole Gordon worked an incredibly dominant bottom of the 9th to seal the deal.

The all-black uniform is quickly cementing itself in Mississippi State baseball tradition. While I still hate the idea of black pants in baseball, I'm far past the point of complaining whenever we wear it, especially since a few small adjustments were made to them this year that make them much better aesthetically, including: smaller sleeve stripes, which prevent the "baggy" look, inclusion of maroon outlines, player names on back, wider numbers, M over S logo on the sleeve, and black batting helmets.

This years' all-black look has been worn in every single Sunday game, and has not been worn in any non-Sunday games. The Bulldogs are 9-0 in Sunday games this season, and as a result are 9-0 in all-black. Combined with last season, when they wore the all-black uniforms 11 times to an 8-3 record, and with 2015, when they wore all-black once in a win over Western Kentucky, Mississippi State baseball now has an 18-3 all-time record in all-black uniforms. All-black is 4-1 in NCAA Tournament games, including 2-0 in regional games, 2-0 in super regional games (both with Omaha berths on the line), and 0-1 in the College World Series.

.This year's Super Regional appearance was Mississippi State's 9th since the format began in 1999. Prior to that season, Mississippi State had advanced to Omaha 7 times, 6 of which were through the 6-team regional, 48-team tournament format.

Of the Bulldogs' 9 Super Regionals, 3 of them have been at home. The first one, in 2007, was after the Bulldogs had won the Tallahassee Regional as a 2 seed; State was chosen to host fellow 2 seed Clemson that year. The two most recent home Super Regionals, in 2016 and 2019, were after State had hosted a home regional as a top-8 national seed.

Overall, Mississippi State is now 4-5 in Super Regionals, increasing their College World Series appearance total to 11. They are 2-1 in home Supers, and 1-1 as a top-8 national seed. 7 of the 9 Supers have been sweeps; only 2011 and 2018 went to three games, and in both of those cases, the team that won game 1 also won game 3. So 100% of the time, the team that has won game 1 of a Super Regional involving Mississippi State has won the series.

Mississippi State's Uniform Color Records in Super Regionals:

Black: 2-0 (1.000); Dogpiles in 2018 and 2019
Maroon: 6-5 (.545); Dogpiles in 2007 and 2013
White: 1-3 (.250)
- Solid White: 1-1 (.500)
- White Pinstripes: 0-2 (.000)
Gray: 0-3 (.000)
- Gray Pinstripes: 0-3 (.000)
- Solid Gray: 0-0 (N/A)
Total: 9-11 (.450), 4-5 (.444) in series

For more on Mississippi State's postseason baseball uniform history, check out this page!

One of my favorite things to do each year is create roundel logos for the eight College World Series teams. This is the seventh year I’ve done them; each year has a different font and a few design tweaks- you can see all of the logos from the past seven seasons at the link.

This year, the design includes a tweaked stitching location, block font, and a different outline pattern. As with the past seasons, the idea is to use the team’s primary hat logo for the roundel. (i.e. Last year, I used the “T” hat logo for Texas rather than the longhorn logo.) A few notes on this year’s logos:

Auburn: Used white text instead of orange because it provided better contrast and overall just looked better, even though it broke the trend of using dark lettering such as seen on Louisville and Texas Tech.
Louisville: Both the cardinal head logo and english “L” are used on their hats; I went with the “L” to keep the letter theme going.
Mississippi State: Last year, I used the thinner M over S logo that is actually worn on the hat. This year, I went with the thicker version that is worn on the jerseys and used in all marketing; it worked much better with the thicker block font I’m using this year and is also more consistent with Mississippi State’s recent branding efforts.
Vanderbilt: In 2014 and 2015, I used the block “V” for Vanderbilt’s roundel logo. This year, I used the star-V, as it has been consistently worn on alternate hats this season and fits better in the roundel.

Being able to include Mississippi State in these logos for the past two seasons has been incredible; I started doing them because of the Bulldogs' 2013 Omaha trip. Check out this year's full gallery at the link below:

2019 College World Series Roundel Logos

The next time Mississippi State baseball takes the field, it will be at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. The Bulldogs will begin play in Omaha on Sunday Night (June 16) against the Auburn Tigers.

The timing of that first game brings up an interesting dilemma, as Ethan Small has already been named the Bulldogs' starter for that game. Small has worn maroon in every single one of his starts this year, but we’ve also worn black in every Sunday game this season. You would think that State would have to go with all-black, considering their 9-0 record in it on Sundays this season, as well as the fact that, barring rain delays, the Bulldogs will not play another Sunday game in Omaha.

Uniform Models for the 2019 Starkville Super Regional:
Saturday vs 1(11). Stanford: Maroon 85 over White: #44 Ethan Small
Sunday vs 1(11). Stanford: Black 85 over Black: #8 Dustin Skelton

Mississippi State Sweeps Through 2019 Starkville Regional

Mon, 03 Jun 2019 05:45:09 GMT

Mississippi State swept through the 2019 Starkville Regional this weekend, defeating each of the teams that traveled to Starkville once each to earn their fourth consecutive Super Regional appearance. The Bulldogs have now accomplished the incredible feat of winning four regionals in four seasons with four different head coaches.

As the #6 National Seed and the 1 seed in the Starkville Regional, the Bulldogs began the 2019 postseason with a win over the 4th seeded Southern Jaguars. They wore the 50s-style white STATE jerseys in that opening-round win on Friday; it was the third time this season that these jerseys had been worn on a Friday, and fourth time that maroon hadn't been worn on Friday. Unlike recent years, where the Bulldogs always wore maroon on "Maroon Friday," they've only worn maroon in 2019 on days when Ethan Small is pitching (which, generally, has still been Friday). The win on Friday improved the white STATE jerseys' season record to 8-1, and stared off their postseason record at 1-0.

This marked the first time since 2007 that white (or any non-maroon) jerseys had been worn in the opening game of a regional. That year, the primary white jerseys also featured a block "STATE" on the front, but, as part of the Russell Athletic debacle, featured a very subpar design. That 2007 team did, however, sweep through the Tallahassee Regional before winning a home Super Regional to advance to Omaha. The last time State opened a home regional in white was 2003; that year, they won the opening game in the white M over S jerseys but were unable to advance to a Super Regional.

On Saturday, State took on 3 seed Central Michigan in the winner's bracket matchup. The Chippewas, who entered the contest on a 19-game winning streak, including a win over Miami the night before, were the designated "home" team for the game, meaning that State was technically the "away" team in their own stadium. The home/away team rules for regionals have been in place for years; teams actually used to have to switch dugouts- State had to occupy the first base dugout at Dudy Noble against Cal State Fullerton in 2016. However, that rule has since been changed, and State was able to stay in the third base dugout (and larger third base side bullpen) throughout the regional, regardless of home/away designation.

With Ethan Small on the mound in the winner's bracket game, the Bulldogs wore the maroon 85 jerseys. Being the "away" team, the Bulldogs could've worn gray pants, like they did as the "away" team against Vanderbilt in Hoover last week. However, seeing as how the game was still being played at Dudy Noble Field, the Bulldogs opted to go with white pants instead, which honestly did look more "right" at home. With the 7-2 win, the maroon 85 jerseys improved to 13-4 on the season, and 9-2 when paired with white pants.

On Sunday, State was sitting pretty in the driver's seat, with Miami having to beat them twice. The Hurricanes couldn't even do it once. In an 8 PM game on Sunday night, Mississippi State reeled off a 5-2 victory in the all-black "Nickelblack" look, sending the Hurricanes packing and clinching a trip to a fourth consecutive Super Regional. The win improved the Bulldogs' record in all-black to 8-0 in 2019, 17-3 all-time, 3-1 in postseason games, and 2-0 in regional play. This was the first time that State had ever worn black in a home regional; last year was the first time that State had ever worn black in the postseason.

Prior to 2016, Mississippi State had won 11 NCAA Regionals, the last 5 of which were in the current 4-team regional format. They've now won 4 in a row, increasing their Regional championship total to 15 and Super Regional appearance total to 9.

In a pleasingly symmetrical fashion, Mississippi State over the past four seasons has swept two home regionals as the #6 National Seed and twice fought through the loser's bracket to win 4 straight games as a 2 seed in a road regional. In each of the fourth regionals, the Bulldogs played and beat all three of the other teams in the given regional. As a host in 2016 and 2019, they beat the 2, 3, and 4 seeds once each; in 2017 and 2018, they had to fight through the elimination bracket and, by necessity, eliminate every other team in each regional.

Amazingly, State achieved this feat with a different head coach each season: John Cohen in 2016, Andy Cannizaro in 2017, Gary Henderson in 2018, and Chris Lemonis in 2019. Only four players were on all four teams and played under all four head coaches. Jake Mangum is the most obvious, as he was the leadoff hitter and starting center fielder on all four teams; Cole Gordon is another one who stands out, as he transitioned from occasional pinch hitter to lockdown closer over the four year span. The final two are Ethan Small and Kale Breaux, though they both took a medical redshirt in 2017.

Next weekend, Mississippi State will take on the #11 National Seed, Stanford, in the 2019 Starkville Super Regional. It will be the Bulldogs' 9th Super Regional overall, and their 3rd time to host a Super Regional. The Bulldogs last won a home Super Regional in 2007, and of course won their most recent one on the road at Vanderbilt last season. With the Bulldogs' 11th trip to Omaha on the line, there is no doubt that Dudy Noble will be rocking again next weekend.

Uniform Models for the 2019 Starkville Regional:
Friday vs 4. Southern: 50s-style White STATE: #4 Rowdey Jordan
Saturday vs 3. Central Michigan: Maroon 85 over White: #5 Tanner Allen
Sunday vs 2. Miami: Black 85 over Black: #15 Jake Mangum

2019 SEC Tournament: Bulldogs Win 17-Inning Marathon over LSU

Sat, 25 May 2019 21:18:10 GMT

After winning 20 conference games and posting a 25-1 non-conference record in the 2019 Regular Season, Mississippi State entered the SEC Tournament as the #4 seed with a first-round bye and a top-8 national seed completely locked up for the NCAA Tournament. Essentially, short of pride, the SEC Tournament meant absolutely nothing for Mississippi State (or Arkansas, Georgia, or Vanderbilt) in 2019.

In their opening game on Wednesday night, Mississippi State took on the #5 seed LSU Tigers, who always seem to care more and play better than anyone else in Hoover. After the Bulldogs blew a 4-2 lead late in regulation, Wednesday's game continued on well into Thursday morning, with Mississippi State defeating the Tigers 6-5 just after 3 am on a walk-off single by Gunner Halter in the bottom of the 17th inning.

The Bulldogs wore the white 85s in the 17-inning win over LSU; this broke the 7-game streak of wearing maroon jerseys in Hoover, which dated back to 2016 (for more on Mississippi State's uniform history in the SEC Tournament, check out the Postseason Baseball Uniform History page). It was also the first time all season that the same uniform had been worn in consecutive non-DH games; the white 85s had also been worn in the regular season finale against South Carolina.

The longest game time-wise in SEC baseball tournament was actually the second time Mississippi State had played a 17-inning game in Hoover in 7 years. Back in 2013, the Bulldogs won a 2-1, 17-inning game over Missouri in the play-in round of the SEC Tournament. The crazy thing is, in that 2013 game, State was wearing the "white 85" design, which not worn in Hoover again until this past Wednesday, when the Bulldogs won yet another 17-inning game.

On Thursday, Mississippi State was matchup up with 1-seed Vanderbilt in the winner's bracket game. This was an interesting matchup, as two top-8 (and likely top-4) national seeds both threw their aces against one another in what was essentially a meaningless game. Ethan Small threw another gem for the Bulldogs, holding the potent Vanderbilt offense to 1 run through 7 innings. However, the State bats were ice cold, and they fell 1-0 to the Commodores. The Bulldogs were the away team in the matchup, and thus wore the maroon 85 jerseys with gray pants. The loss dropped the Bulldogs' 2019 record in the 85 maroon jerseys to 12-4, and 4-2 when paired with the gray pants.

In an elimination game on Friday, Mississippi State had to play LSU once again. This time, the Tigers' Hoover magic showed up, and State was clearly ready to dip out and prepare for their home regional. LSU won the game 12-2 in 7 innings, ending the Bulldogs' 2019 run in Hoover.

As the home team, State wore the white 85s again in their final game in Hoover; the Bulldogs have now worn the white 85s 4 times in the last two weeks, to a 2-2 record against the four best teams they've been worn against this season. As I've mentioned before, I think the white 85s are State's best look, so I'm a huge fan of them seeing more action here lately. The white 85s now have a 9-2 (.818) record in 2019, and at 11 appearances have been worn more than any other combination; only the maroon 85 jerseys have been worn more at 16 appearances.

With the regular season complete, a handful of Bulldogs took home awards on Monday, including the Ferris Trophy, SEC Pitcher of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year, and four first team All-SEC selections.

Jake Mangum won the Ferriss Trophy, awarded to the best baseball player in the state of Mississippi, for the second time in his career (he previously won it as a freshman in 2016). This completed Mississippi State's sweep of the C-Spire "Best of Mississippi" awards; it was the first time ever that all of the awards have been won by players of a single school. Mississippi State has completely dominated the other Mississippi schools in all sports this athletic year, and these awards showcase that pretty clearly.

Mississippi State's 1-2 punch is one of the best in the country for a reason. The Bulldogs' ace, Ethan Small, was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year, to the surprise of no one; Small has clearly been the SEC's premier arm in 2019 and gives Mississippi State a huge advantage heading into the NCAA Tournament. JT Ginn, the Bulldogs' #2 pitcher, was named the SEC Freshman of the Year; Ginn's freshman campaign has lived up to the hype. The 2018 first-round MLB draft pick is an elite arm that gives the Bulldogs a step-up on the competition in game 2 of every series.

In addition to the Pitcher/Freshman of the year honors, Small was also named to the first team All-SEC and Ginn was also named to the SEC All-Freshman team.

Including the aforementioned Ethan Small, Mississippi State had four players named to the first team All-SEC, matching the total of the 2016 SEC Championship team. Small, Jake Mangum, Justin Foscue, and Tanner Allen received the honor; all four undoubtedly deserved it.

In addition to the Ferriss Trophy and first team All-SEC, Mangum was also named to the SEC All-Defensive team; the SEC's all time hits leader had as good of a senior year as anticipated.

For the second time since the format was introduced in 1999, Mississippi State will be a top-8 National Seed in the 2019 NCAA Baseball Tournament. That means that the Bulldogs will host a regional, and if they win that, a super regional, at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville. They will not play another game away from home unless they reach the College World Series.

The Bulldogs will find out their exact draw on Monday morning; their next game will be on Friday, as they open the 2019 Starkville Regional against whatever 4 seed they are assigned.

Uniform Models for the 2019 SEC Tournament:
Wednesday v LSU: White 85: #2 Gunner Halter
Thursday v Vanderbilt: Maroon 85 over Gray: #44 Ethan Small
Friday v LSU: White 85: #4 Rowdey Jordan

Mississippi State Wins South Carolina Series, Share of SEC West Title

Sun, 19 May 2019 02:42:51 GMT

Mississippi State closed out the 2019 regular season with its 8th SEC series victory of the year, defeating South Carolina 2 out of 3 to win a share of the SEC Western Division Title, albeit shared with an Arkansas team that swept the Bulldogs.

The week began with a Tuesday midweek contest against Louisiana Tech; the game was scheduled as a replacement for the game against Nebraska that got rained out earlier in the season. State beat La Tech 7-3 to finish the season with a perfect 15-0 record in midweek games, marking the first time since 2013 that the Bulldogs have finished undefeated in midweeks. The white 85s were worn for the 7th consecutive midweek game, improving their 2019 record to 8-0.

Mississippi State's bats handled South Carolina quite easily on Thursday and Friday, clinching the series victory with 24-7 and 11-2 wins. With Ethan Small on the mound on Thursday, the Bulldogs wore the maroon 85 jerseys with white pants; the win improved the season record in the maroon 85s to 12-3, and 8-2 when paired with white pants. With JT Ginn starting in the Friday win, State went with the 50s-style white STATE uniforms, improving their season record to 7-1.

Saturday's game 3 was the second time this season that the Bulldogs had played an SEC game 3 at home on a Saturday. The first time was against LSU, when the white "State" pinstripes were worn. The white pins, which were worn 5 times early in the season to a 4-1 record, have not been worn since that game on March 30th, marking seven consecutive weeks in which they have not appeared. Multiple people have asked me why this has been the case, and at this point I'm just as perplexed as they are. Obviously the white pins had a reduced role earlier in the season, but that role was totally eliminated once April began. I would've expected them to be worn in at least 1 or 2 of the last several midweek games and in Saturday's game with South Carolina. I reached out to a baseball EQ manager to see if he could provide any explanation, but did not get a response. So, for now, this remains a mystery.

So, instead of the white pinstripes (or all-black uniforms, which have rightfully been kept to Sundays this season), the white 85s made their SEC debut in the regular season finale against South Carolina. It was really nice to see them being worn in a weekend game again; though all three of State's white uniforms are really good, I think the white 85s are the best of them. This marked the first time this season that, excepting doubleheaders, the same uniform had been worn twice in a single week; that's a stat that demonstrates how good of a job State's EQ staff and others involved have done with uniform selection this year.

Unfortunately, the Bulldogs' late comeback bid on Saturday wasn't enough, and they fell in the regular season finale to South Carolina, who had to win to secure a spot in Hoover for the SEC Tournament. The loss was the first that the Bulldogs had suffered in the white 85s all season, bringing their record down to 8-1 (.889) on the year. As big of a fan as I am of keeping the all-black uniforms to Sunday, the stats here are pretty one-sided: in Sunday game 3s in SEC play, the Bulldogs were 5-0, whereas in Saturday game 3s, they were 1-4 (with the win coming in game 2 of the Saturday DH at Texas A&M in the gray pinstripes).

With stats in mind, here are the "Uniform Standings" following the 2019 Regular Season:

10 Games: 8-2 (.800): Maroon 85s w/ White Pants
9 Games: 8-1 (.889): White 85s
8 Games: 7-1 (.875): 50s-style White STATE
8 Games: 4-4 (.500): Gray Pinstripes
7 Games: 7-0 (1.000): All-Black 85s
5 Games: 4-1 (.800): Maroon 85s w/ Gray Pants
5 Games: 4-1 (.800): White "State" Pinstripes
3 Games: 2-1 (.667): Gray Sleeveless Vests
1 Game: 1-0 (1.000): Teal Alex Wilcox Tribute Jerseys

Saturday's loss prevented the Bulldogs from claiming the outright SEC West Championship and 2 seed in the SEC Tournament, but State is still in good shape with a share of the West title, #4 SECT seed, and first round bye in Hoover. The Bulldogs finished the regular season with an incredibly impressive 45-11 overall record, 20-10 record in SEC play, and an RPI of 4; they are essentially guaranteed to be a top-8 national seed come selection time next week. Still, State would love to pick up a few wins in Hoover to get as high of a seeding as possible.

This weekend was the final regular season weekend for one of Mississippi State's greatest baseball players of all-time, Jake Mangum. Over the course of his four years as a Bulldog, Jake has worn the M over S on his cap and #15 on his back in 26 different uniform combinations! (which is actually still far short of Cody Brown, who will probably forever hold the record of most Mississippi State baseball uniform combinations worn at 42)

In his time at State, Mangum was worn 5 different solid white jerseys, 2 versions of white pinstripes, 2 gray jerseys (one with pinstripes and one in vest form), 4 different maroon jerseys (two featuring the M over S logo and two featuring the '85' wordmark), 3 different black jerseys, and 3 non-traditional color jerseys (Mossy Oak Camo and Digital Camo from 2016, Teal from this season).

The gray pinstripes are the only uniform that Mangum wore in all four years as a Bulldog; with four different head coaches, the gray pinstripes, beating Ole Miss, and always making a super regional (3 down, hopefully one to go), have been the only consistent things about the Mangum Era.

No matter what uniform he's wearing, Jake Mangum always brings maximum effort and will always be remembered as a Mississippi State baseball legend.

This week, Mississippi State will travel to the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama. As the #4 seed, the Bulldogs will have a first round bye, and will play the winner of 5 seed LSU and 12 seed South Carolina late Wednesday night. I'll be interested to see what uniforms the Bulldogs wear in Hoover; pretty much anything is on the table. State has been very experimental in Hoover before (see: 2014) but have also been very conservative before (see: 2017).

For a record of every uniform Mississippi State has worn in Hoover since 2005, check out the Postseason Baseball Uniform History page.

Uniform Models for the Final Week of the 2019 Regular Season:
Tuesday vs Louisiana Tech: White 85: #4 Rowdey Jordan
Thursday vs South Carolina: Maroon 85 over White: #5 Tanner Allen
Friday vs South Carolina: 50s-style White STATE: #10 Josh Hatcher
Saturday vs South Carolina: White 85: #5 Tanner Allen

Mississippi State SWEEPS Ole Miss in Oxford

Mon, 13 May 2019 00:30:27 GMT

There are few things more enjoyable as a Mississippi State fan than watching the Bulldogs win in Oxford. State fans got to enjoy that feeling three times this weekend, as the Bulldogs swept the hometown Rebels in the penultimate SEC series of 2019, continuing their 4-year stretch of dominance over their in-state rivals and winning their fourth SEC road series of the season.

The week began with a Wednesday home game against the Memphis Tigers, who jumped out to a 7-0 lead over the Bulldogs before a the first out was even recorded. However, the Mississippi State bats were able to battle back over the course of the game, squeaking out a 10-9 victory to keep the Bulldogs undefeated (14-0) in midweek games in 2019. In the win, State wore the white 85s for the sixth consecutive home midweek game, giving them a pristine 7-0 record on the season.

Over the weekend in Oxford, State found a different way to win each game. Ethan Small and Jared Liebelt dominated on the mound (despite a fog delay that prematurely ended Small’s night) on Friday. On Saturday, the Bulldogs got off to a slow start, but were the beneficiaries of an admittedly bogus interference call that limited the Rebels’ damage. State took advantage by bringing the bats to life, Ole Miss was not able to get hot again, and the Bulldogs won 8-5 to clinch the series. On Sunday, a 9-run top of the 4th gave the Bulldogs a huge lead that deflated any hopes the Rebels had of salvaging a game; State would cruise to an 11-5 win, with their last run coming on an RBI double by Jake Mangum in his last ever at-bat in Oxford.

As they have in every road game Ethan Small has pitched in, State wore the maroon 85 jerseys with gray pants in the Friday night win. That win improved the Bulldogs’ record in the maroon 85s to 11-3, and 4-1 when paired with gray pants.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs broke trend slightly, choosing to go with the gray sleeveless jerseys rather than the gray pinstripes. State had already beaten Ole Miss in the Governor’s Cup in the gray pins earlier this season, so it did make sense to go with the gray vests this time to create some variety. The win on Saturday night marked the Bulldogs’ first SEC win in the gray vests, and improved their record to 2-1 on the season. State is now 6-5 in gray (vests or pins) this season, and 6-2 in solid gray pants.

As they have in every Sunday game this season, Mississippi State broke out the all-black uniforms as they (successfully) went for the sweep. It was an exact color rematch of last year’s rubber match with the Rebels, in which State wore all-black and Ole Miss wore all-powder blue. That game, in which Luke Alexander hit a walk-off HR in extra winnings to win the series, is what began the trend of State wearing black in game 3s last year and on Sundays this year. The Bulldogs once again won the “color rush”-esque matchup, improving their 2019 record in all-black to 7-0 and their all-time record in all-black to 16-3.

As you are probably aware, Mississippi State has absolutely dominated Ole Miss in baseball over the past four seasons. Jake Mangum, the King in the North, will go down as someone who has owned Ole Miss more than any other single player in school history. Over the course of four seasons, and with four different head coaches, Mangum and the Bulldogs have achieved a 14-2 record against Ole Miss, including two sweeps in Oxford, four series wins, and four Governor’s Cup victories.

In 2016, Mangum’s freshman season and John Cohen’s final season as head coach before taking the AD job, Mississippi State won the SEC Regular Season Championship and hosted both a regional and super regional as a national seed. The Bulldogs won the series in Starkville and well as the Governor’s Cup to finish 3-1 against the Rebels.

One of the most positive memories State fans have regarding Andy Cannizaro’s brief stint as head coach is the fact that he never lost to Ole Miss. Under Cannizaro in 2017, State swept the Rebels in Oxford and won the Governor’s Cup to finish 4-0 against them on the season. Neither team was “elite” that season, but State did manage to win the Hattiesburg regional and play in a super for the second consecutive year.

With Gary Henderson serving as interim head coach in 2018, Mississippi State’s season was not looking promising when the #3 Ole Miss Rebels came to Starkville. Still, the Bulldogs managed to take 2 of 3 against the Rebels and later won the Governor’s Cup (also on an Alexander walk-off) to cap off another winning season against the Rebels. That year, Ole Miss did win the SEC West and SEC Tournament, and also received a national seed designation. However, they choked in their home regional against Tennessee Tech. Meanwhile, the series win over the Rebels kick-started a turnaround for the Bulldogs’ season. They ended up winning a road regional and a road super regional, advancing to the College World Series, where they would win two more games and finish tied for 3rd in the nation.

In 2019, Mangum’s senior season and Chris Lemonis’s first as head coach of the Bulldogs, Mississippi State scorched the Rebels in the Governor’s Cup and swept them this past weekend in Oxford, getting Lemonis off to a 4-0 start against the Rebels and capping Mangum’s career record against them at an astounding 14-2. After getting swept, Ole Miss now looks to be on the wrong side of the hosting bubble, while Mississippi State is in prime position for a national seed.

To tie this back into uniforms, State is 6-0 against the Rebels while wearing maroon jerseys since 2016. They are 3-0 in gray, 3-1 in white, and 2-1 in black. Essentially, it doesn’t really matter what they wear: Mississippi State and Jake Mangum simply own Ole Miss in baseball.

In the final week of the 2019 regular season, Mississippi State will host Louisiana Tech in a Tuesday midweek matchup before hosting South Carolina in a Thursday through Saturday series to finish up this year’s SEC regular season slate.

I would expect to see the white 85s on Tuesday and then the same three weekend uniforms as were worn in the Thursday-Saturday LSU series. The white pinstripes haven’t been worn since that LSU series; I definitely hope to see them again this weekend, either on Thursday or Saturday.

Uniform Models for the sweep in Oxford:
Wednesday vs Memphis: White 85: #5 Tanner Allen
Friday at Ole Miss: Maroon 85 over Gray: #19 Jared Liebelt
Saturday at Ole Miss: Gray Sleeveless: #34 Marshall Gilbert
Sunday at Ole Miss: Black 85 over Black: #15 Jake Mangum

Bulldogs Win Series in College Station

Sun, 05 May 2019 00:44:38 GMT

Mississippi State added another big resume-boosting series win this weekend, as they traveled to College Station and took 2 games from the top-20 Texas A&M Aggies. The Bulldogs' sixth SEC series win of the season solidified their top-4 RPI status (at least for this weekend) and got them to the 15-win mark in conference play, matching last season's 15 win total with two series left to play.

The series in College Station was supposed to begin on Thursday night and be played Thursday through Saturday, but rain intervened. With Keegan James listed as the starter, the Bulldogs were slated to wear their gray sleeveless jerseys in Thursday night's contest. However, that game was rained out, and the series opener was played Friday afternoon instead.

With Ethan Small on the mound on Friday, back in his 7-day rotation slot, the Bulldogs went with the maroon 85 tops, as they have every game this season with Ethan on the mound, paired with gray pants. Small was perfect through 6 and left the game without giving up a hit through 7, as the Bulldogs won the series opener 4-0. The win increased the Bulldogs' record in the maroon 85 jerseys to 10-3 on the season, and 3-1 when paired with gray pants.

Per SEC rules, a doubleheader consisting of two 7-inning games was played on Saturday, the "third" and final day of the series. Despite an excellent outing from JT Ginn, the Bulldogs dropped a 1-0 contest to Asa Lacy and the Aggies in the early game on Saturday. However, they would bounce back in the late game behind a better offensive outing and six solid innings from Peyton Plumlee; Jared Liebelt was the Bulldogs' only reliever to see action on the weekend, pitching three innings total by closing out the first and third games of the weekend. The Bulldogs came out with a 4-3 victory in the 7-inning rubber match, clinching the series victory.

Gray pinstripes were worn in both games of the Saturday doubleheader; the split kept the Bulldogs' 2019 record in gray pins steady at .500 (now 4-4). Including the gray sleeveless jerseys, the Bulldogs are 5-5 in gray-based uniforms in 2019. They are 4-2 in solid gray pants, and 8-4 in gray-based pants (solid or pinstriped). The win in the second game of Saturday's DH was the Bulldogs' first non-Sunday SEC game 3 victory of 2019, meaning it was also the first SEC game 3 that the Bulldogs have won this season while not wearing black.

This week, the Bulldogs have a home midweek game before heading north to Oxford, where they will take on the Ole Miss Rebels in a Friday-Sunday weekend series. Barring any weather delays, we should see the same weekend uniform rotation as was worn at Tennessee. Wednesday's game with Memphis is a great opportunity for the white pinstripes to see the field for the first time since March 30th against LSU; expect to see either them or the white 85s.

Uniform Models for the Series in College Station:
Friday at Florida: Maroon 85 over Gray: #44 Ethan Small
Saturday at Florida: Gray Pinstripes: #3 JT Ginn
Saturday at Florida: Gray Pinstripes: #17 Justin Foscue

Mississippi State Sweeps top-5 Georgia

Sun, 28 Apr 2019 22:29:34 GMT

Mississippi State bounced back in a big way this week, winning their fourth consecutive Governor's Cup and sweeping top-5 Georgia to get back on track after an unsuccessful weekend in Fayetteville.

In Jake Mangum's final Governor's Cup against Ole Miss in his hometown of Pearl, MS, Mississippi State hammered the Ole Miss bullpen and kept the Rebels' bats in check as they rolled to an 8-1 victory. Mangum, along with fellow 4-year player Cole Gordon, finishes his career with a 4-0 mark in Governor's Cups. The pair are now 11-2 overall against the Rebels; they'll look to add to that win total in Oxford in a couple weeks.

As the designated "away" team this year, Mississippi State wore the Gray Pinstripes in the Governor's Cup win, elevating the 2019 record in the gray pins back to .500 at 3-3. It was the first time that State had worn gray in Pearl since 2015, when the Bulldogs wore the gray script jerseys in an 11-1 loss, their most recent GC loss. State has worn a different version of the white 85s in each of their last three wins as the "home" team, and wore the maroon M over S jerseys in their 2017 win as the "road" team.

Ole Miss actually deviated from their usual Governor's Cup uniform rotation this year; they generally wear red as the "away" team and white pinstripes as the "home" team; this year they went with red as the "home" team. This gave us an exact uniform rematch of the 2017 Thursday night game in Oxford, which was also won by Mississippi State as part of a season where the Bulldogs went 4-0 against the Rebels.

Following the Governor's Cup win over Ole Miss, Mississippi State welcomed top-5 Georgia into Dudy Noble Field. Georgia was without ace Emerson Hancock, but still had the rest of their uber-talented pitching staff to attempt and shutdown the Bulldogs. That attempt failed, as Mississippi State dominated the weekend, winning 19-3 on Friday, 9-3 on Saturday, and 6-5 on Sunday. State's bats were alive all weekend, and all three starting pitchers (Ethan Small, JT Ginn, and Peyton Plumlee) went deep and picked up wins.

The Bulldogs stuck to their usual Friday-Sunday home uniform rotation this weekend: maroon 85 over white on Friday, 50s-style white STATE on Saturday, and all-black on Sunday. Of the seven home weekends that the Bulldogs have played this season, four of them have been played Friday-Sunday, and all have featured this same rotation. However, this might be the final time we see this exact rotation this season; the South Carolina series to close the season is Thursday-Saturday, and Regionals and Super Regionals do funky things with "home" and "away" designations.

The Friday night win improved the 2019 record in the maroon 85 jerseys to 9-3 (7-2 with white pants); the Saturday win improved the 50s-style white STATE jerseys to 6-1 on the season. The all-Black look, which is still mutually inclusive to Sunday games, is now an impressive 6-0 this season; that gives all-black a 15-3 all-time record at Mississippi State.

This week, Mississippi State will not have a midweek game due to finals, but will play a Thursday-Saturday series at Texas A&M next weekend. In the first 3-game week since opening weekend, I would expect to see a similar uniform rotation to the series at Arkansas. The only changes that I could see happening is moving the maroon 85s away from Thursday if A&M wants to wear maroon that game.

Uniform Models for the Governor's Cup and Sweep of Georgia:
Tuesday v Ole Miss: Gray Pinstripes: #17 Justin Foscue
Friday vs Georgia: Maroon 85 over White: #44 Ethan Small
Saturday vs Georgia: 50s-style White STATE: #15 Jake Mangum
Sunday vs Georgia: Black 85 over Black: #13 Peyton Plumlee

Razorbacks Sweep Bulldogs in Fayetteville

Sun, 21 Apr 2019 00:31:47 GMT

Mississippi State isn't peaking in April, that's for sure. Hopefully they are saving it for June.

The week started with a midweek game against Texas Southern that was too close for too long. The Bulldog bats finally woke up in the bottom of the eighth, and a game that spent most of its time tied at 1 was won by State 5-1. The Bulldogs wore the white 85s in the Tuesday night affair; it was the fifth consecutive home midweek game in which the white 85s have been worn. They now have a 6-0 record on the season, with all six appearances coming in the midweek. The Bulldogs are 22-1 in non-conference games this season, and 12-0 in midweek games.

The series at Arkansas was the Bulldogs' first Thursday-Saturday road series of the season. The uniform rotation was dealt with in a very similar fashion to the Thursday-Saturday LSU series; the usual "Friday" look of maroon 85 jerseys and gray pants was bumped to Thursday, the "Saturday" look of gray pinstripes was bumped to Friday, and a uniform not previously worn on the weekend was worn on Saturday, as the all-black game 3 look has been kept exclusive to Sundays in 2019.

In the aforementioned Thurs-Sat LSU series, the white "State" pinstripes (which have not been worn in the three weeks since) replaced the all-black uniforms in the weekend rotation. This week, it was the gray sleeveless jerseys, which were introduced exactly a month ago at Samford, that were worn in the game 3 Saturday slot. As I noted when they were first worn, the sleeveless jerseys aren't perfect, but they're a solid #2 gray look behind the gray pins. This was certainly a good spot for them; I really like that we're keep all-black only on Sundays this year rather than every game 3.

State's bats didn't really show up in Fayetteville, and the pitching didn't do much better. As a result, the Bulldogs were swept on the road by the nation's #10 team. The Thursday loss dropped the maroon 85 jerseys to 8-3 on the season and 2-1 while paired with the gray pants. The Friday loss dropped the gray pinstripes to 2-3, making them the first uniform this season to have a losing record at any point. The gray sleeveless jerseys are now 1-1 on the season after the loss in their SEC debut.

The good news for Mississippi State is that they have an immediate chance to bounce back. On Tuesday, they will take on in-state rival Ole Miss in the annual Governor's Cup in Pearl. Then, this weekend, State will welcome the SEC-leading Georgia Bulldogs. A win in Pearl and a series win over Georgia would quickly rectify any bad vibes lingering from this weekend's failures at Arkansas.

Uniform Models for the week of the Arkansas Series:
Tuesday vs Texas Southern: White 85: #40 Elijah MacNamee
Thursday at Arkansas: Maroon 85 over Gray: #4 Rowdey Jordan
Friday at Arkansas: Gray Pinstripes: #17 Justin Foscue
Saturday at Arkansas: Gray Sleeveless: #5 Tanner Allen