College baseball season is officially here. Well, it all starts this Friday, but Mississippi State decided to get fans excited early this week by releasing the starting rotation for its series against Manhattan. A season ago, the Diamond Dawgs had one of the country’s best pitching staffs, thanks mainly to first-year pitching coach Justin Parker.
The former South Carolina assistant is back for his second year, and fans are excited to see what the State arms will look like. Bulldog head coach Chris Lemonis noted that the rotation will be slightly different this year due to the bullpen depth. Last year, starting pitchers Khal Stephen and Jurrangelo Cijntje both threw a ton of innings for the Diamond Dawgs.
However, this year, expect State to rely more on its bullpen, but a familiar name will throw out the first pitch of the 2025 season at Dudy Noble Field.
Friday- Pico Kohn
Kohn is a veteran of this Mississippi State program in terms of years in Starkville, as this will be his fourth year with the maroon and white. The lefty showed a lot of promise his freshman season, finishing the year with a 4.91 ERA over 36.2 innings. However, an injury sidelined him for his sophomore season.
A season ago, he was slowly working his way back into the rotation and hit his stride at the end of the year. He established himself as the third guy in the rotation for State and finished the year with a 3.38 ERA over eight starts and had 35 strikeouts to 11 walks.
“You go back to that Virginia game; he was 92-94 and pitched well against one of the best offensive lineups in the country. He has kinda been back in that form during Spring training. He came back for a reason. He wanted to get better. I think he is the heaviest he has been in his career and the most mechanically sound, and I am really excited for him,” Lemonis said of Kohn.
Saturday- Karson Ligon
In terms of velocity, this guy will have the most of any guy in the rotation. The Miami transfer came to State a season ago with some hype but unfortunately dealt with some injuries. He made 15 appearances a season with two starts and finished the year with a 4.56 ERA, 21 strikeouts, and 21 walks.
He certainly has the talent, but he will need to work on his control.
“He is a totally different pitcher, fundamentally,” Lemonis said of Ligon. “I think that is the biggest thing we have seen. This time last year, I don’t even think he was throwing. He has done a great job with Coach Parker getting back, and he still has some work to do. However, he is a 22-year-old guy who has pitched in some big atmospheres, and he has real plus stuff. Can he harness it? That is the biggest thing.”
Sunday- Stone Simmons
It would be tough to find a guy in college baseball who has faced more adversity than Simmons. The senior is the last remaining Diamond Dawg with a national championship ring, having pitched 24.1 innings in 2021.
However, he has only pitched 4.1 innings since then, and they all came during the 2022 season when he seemed poised to be the ace of the State bullpen. Finally, after leaving the mound against Tulane, Simmons will be on the mound in a regular season game wearing maroon and white on Sunday.
“I am real confident in him,” Lemonis said of Simmons. “He is probably a little limited right now and is probably a week behind everyone else. Building up his volume right now is the most important thing to us, and not pushing him too hard too early. You will probably see us handle him differently than the other starters. He is probably the most efficient pitcher we have in terms of having quick innings.”
