List: What Mississippi State's baseball lineup will look like on opening day
Tyler HorkaSTARKVILLE – The wait for baseball season is essentially over — and so is the mystery surrounding Mississippi State's starting roster on opening weekend.
Here's a list of Bulldogs who will start on the mound and in the field during the first weekend of the 2019 baseball season.
- Pitcher: Junior Ethan Small
- Catcher: Junior Dustin Skelton
- First base: Sophomore Tanner Allen
- Second base: Junior Gunner Halter
- Shortstop: Jordan Westburg
- Third base: Sophomore Justin Foscue
- Right field: Senior Elijah MacNamee
- Center field: Senior Jake Mangum
- Left field: Sophomore Rowdey Jordan
- Designated hitter: TBA. Lemonis has listed many options at DH, including Landon Jordan, Hayden Jones, senior Marshall Gilbert, sophomore Josh Hatcher or even Ginn on days he won’t be on the mound.
Ethan Small, other Mississippi State pitchers
The Bulldogs knew many weeks ago that redshirt junior left-hander Ethan Small would get the ball on opening day, but it was a total mystery beyond that. Tuesday evening, head coach Chris Lemonis announced who the other two weekend starters are.
Freshman J.T. Ginn and redshirt junior Keegan James will take the mound on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Both are righties. There was speculation Ginn, who joins the team after turning down a first-round draft selection by the Los Angeles Dodgers, would potentially be a weekend starter.
“J.T. is a little different from a normal freshman,” Lemonis said. “He was drafted for a reason. He’s very talented. I don’t want to put too much on a freshman, but I think he’s earned it to this point. He pitched well in scrimmages, and it will be fun to watch him.”
James, meanwhile, hasn’t started a game since his freshman season in 2016. Last year, he appeared in 26 games in relief. He pitched 47.2 innings and had 45 strikeouts to 19 walks with a 4.34 earned run average.
Behind Ginn and James, Lemonis mentioned senior Peyton Plumlee, freshman Eric Cerantola, redshirt junior Tyler Spring and redshirt junior Jack Eagan as potential starters.
“We have a handful of guys who can start,” Lemonis said. “Everybody is available for the weekend. I’ll figure out Wednesday’s (starter) when I get to Wednesday, and we can just piece it together. Play everybody, do a couple guys all the way through.”
Other positions, Bulldogs batting order
The only other positions that have some fluidity as to who might start are second base and catcher. Junior college transfer Gunner Halter looks like the starter at second, but freshman Landon Jordan is challenging him there.
At catcher, junior Dustin Skelton will get majority of the starts, but freshman Hayden Jones will get some opportunities behind the plate as well. Lemonis said Jones has a “bazooka for an arm,” but he’s still learning to create chemistry with Mississippi State’s pitching staff.
Lemonis didn’t open up too much on this weekend’s batting order. One thing is for certain – senior centerfielder Jake Mangum will lead off. The rest of the order remains to be seen when the team takes the field against Youngstown State at 4 p.m. Friday.
Contact Tyler Horka at thorka@gannett.com. Follow @tbhorka on Twitter.