# 2008 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team

The 2008 Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team represented Mississippi State University in the NCAA Division I baseball season of 2008. The team was coached by Ron Polk, in his 35th year as a collegiate head coach, and his 29th at Mississippi State. During mid-season, Coach Polk announced he would resign effective at the conclusion of the season. Following the conclusion of the season, former MSU standout and University of Kentucky Head Baseball coach John Cohen was announced by incoming AD Greg Bryne as the new Mississippi State Baseball Coach for 2009.

## Pre-season

The 2008 version of the Mississippi State Bulldogs Baseball team were looking to build on the success of the 2007 MSU Baseball Campaign after advancing to the College World Series. Based upon the achievements the year before, the recruiting class of 2008 was ranked 26th by Collegiate Baseball The team was predicted to finish second in the SEC West Mississippi State was ranked 24th in the preseason NCBWA poll, 23rd in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, and 19th in the Rivals.com preseason poll
Infielder Brandon Turner was named to the 2008 preseason Louisville Slugger TPX 2008 All-America second team and to the Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list. Pitcher Aaron Weatherford was named to the preseason watch list for the NCWBA Stopper of the Year Award. Turner and Weatherford were both named to the preseason watch list for the 2008 Brooks Wallace Award.

## Roster and Stats
### Coaches

| Name | Title | First Season at MSU | Alma Mater |
| Ron Polk | Head coach | 1976 | Grand Canyon College (1965) |
| Russ McNickle | Assistant coach | 2002 | University of South Alabama (1988) |
| Tommy Raffo | Assistant coach | 1998 | Mississippi State University (1990) |
| Wade Hedges | Volunteer Assistant Coach | 2004 | Florida Southern College (1996) |

### Players

| # | Player | Pos | B | T | YR | Hometown | G | AB | H | AVG | HR | RBI | BB | SB | FLD% |
| 2 | Brandon Turner | 2B | L | R | SO | Cleveland, TN | 8 | 23 | 5 | .217 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 3 | Grant Hogue | OF | S | R | JR | Hattiesburg, MS | 55 | 197 | 63 | .320 | 0 | 13 | 21 | 25 | .943 |
| 5 | Russ Sneed | 3B/SS | R | R | SO | Senatobia, MS | 56 | 215 | 59 | .274 | 2 | 26 | 31 | 5 | .940 |
| 7 | Ryan Powers | SS/2B | R | R | FR | Beacon, NY | 40 | 92 | 22 | .239 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 0 | .944 |
| 8 | Brooks Lewis | C | R | R | JR | Heidelberg, MS | 23 | 17 | 4 | .235 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .980 |
| 11 | Tyler Moore | 1B | R | R | JR | Brandon, MS | 56 | 204 | 61 | .299 | 14 | 46 | 21 | 5 | .982 |
| 13 | Jet Butler | SS/2B | S | R | SO | Pensacola, FL | 55 | 181 | 49 | .271 | 1 | 24 | 16 | 0 | .953 |
| 14 | Ryan Duffy | C | L | R | SO | West Melbourne, FL | 42 | 121 | 37 | .306 | 7 | 25 | 4 | 0 | .980 |
| 15 | Mark Goforth | OF | L | R | JR | Covington, TN | 46 | 101 | 31 | .307 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 1.000 |
| 16 | Will Coggin | 2B | R | R | JR | Booneville, MS | 8 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 18 | Jason Nappi | OF | R | R | FR | Birmingham, AL | 53 | 197 | 54 | .274 | 8 | 37 | 32 | 1 | .897 |
| 19 | Andy Rice | OF | L | L | SR | Amory, MS | 31 | 61 | 16 | .262 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 0 | .972 |
| 20 | Nick Hardy | OF | R | R | JR | Flora, MS. | 49 | 76 | 20 | .263 | 2 | 13 | 14 | 2 | .950 |
| 23 | Cade Hoggard | OF | R | R | SO | Oxford, MS | 20 | 18 | 1 | .056 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 25 | Connor Powers | 3B | R | R | SO | Naperville, IL | 35 | 135 | 47 | .348 | 11 | 38 | 18 | 2 | .915 |
| 26 | Scott DeLoach | C | R | R | JR | Madison, MS | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 27 | Jeff Flagg | OF | R | R | JR | Jacksonville, FL | 34 | 50 | 9 | .180 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 29 | Cody Freeman | C | R | R | FR | Collinsville, MS | 38 | 116 | 36 | .310 | 2 | 20 | 15 | 1 | 1.000 |
| 36 | Johnny Allen | C | R | R | JR | Grenada, MS | 22 | 47 | 12 | .255 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | .979 |
| 38 | Ryan Collins | OF | L | L | FR | Callaway, FL | 43 | 119 | 41 | .345 | 3 | 23 | 26 | 3 | .983 |
| 45 | Michael Busby | P/SS | R | R | FR | Vicksburg, MS | 3 | 4 | 3 | .750 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |

### Pitchers

| # | Player | T | Yr | Hometown | G | GS | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | H | BB | SO | FLD% |
| 4 | Forrest Moore | L | FR | Baton Rouge, LA | 19 | 4 | 45.1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8.14 | 52 | 39 | 46 | .900 |
| 6 | Justin Pigott | L | SR | Picayune, MS | 9 | 9 | 44.2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5.04 | 51 | 16 | 44 | 1.000 |
| 9 | Greg Houston | R | SO | Hoover, AL | 14 | 2 | 25.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.36 | 44 | 16 | 18 | 1.000 |
| 10 | Andy Wilson | L | SR | Columbus, GA | 16 | 1 | 35.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.66 | 40 | 13 | 27 | .778 |
| 12 | Tyler Whitney | L | SO | Lakeland, TN | 10 | 5 | 20.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10.80 | 29 | 19 | 20 | 1.000 |
| 17 | Chad Crosswhite | R | JR | Brandon, MS | 19 | 11 | 53.1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 9.96 | 82 | 27 | 36 | .909 |
| 24 | Jared Koon | R | JR | Tupelo, MS | 2 | 0 | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.80 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 30 | John Lalor | R | SR | Germantown, TN | 21 | 2 | 42.1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3.19 | 38 | 14 | 56 | 1.000 |
| 31 | Ricky Bowen | R | SO | Jasper, AL | 15 | 13 | 73.1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 7.61 | 84 | 41 | 64 | .889 |
| 32 | Aaron Weatherford | R | JR | Crystal Springs, MS | 18 | 0 | 31.2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 0.85 | 10 | 10 | 62 | 1.000 |
| 34 | Jesse Carver | L | SR | Starkville, MS | 15 | 2 | 33.2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9.09 | 57 | 14 | 27 | 1.000 |
| 35 | Jared Wesson | L | JR | Tupelo, MS | 7 | 1 | 4.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19.29 | 7 | 12 | 3 | -- |
| 41 | Lee Swindle | R | JR | Eupora, MS | 11 | 4 | 35.1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6.37 | 52 | 14 | 13 | 1.000 |
| 44 | Drew Hollinghead | R | SO | Leakesville, MS | 6 | 2 | 10.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.30 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 1.000 |
| 45 | Michael Busby | R | FR | Vicksburg, MS | 19 | 0 | 37.0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5.84 | 39 | 29 | 30 | 1.000 |
These players are on the roster, but did not appear in a game and were redshirted.
| # | Player | Pos | B | T | YR | Hometown |
| 28 | Shawn Marquardt | P | R | L | FR | Carmel, IN |
| 33 | Paxton Pace | P/2B | R | L | FR | Collinsville, MS |
| 42 | Brent Brownlee | OF | R | R | FR | Oxford, MS |
| 48 | Luke Adkins | OF | L | L | JR | Nettleton, MS |
| 49 | Sean Johnson | OF | R | R | JR | Senatobia, MS |
| 50 | Ryan Rubino | SS/2B | R | R | FR | Bradenton, FL |
| 51 | Bobby Triglia | 3B/C | R | R | FR | Jacksonville, FL |

## Schedule and results

2008 Game Log :
Regular Season
#DateOpponentScoreSite/stadiumWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordSEC
1February 22at North Florida8-2Baseball Grounds of JacksonvillePigott (1-0)Pryor---11911-0
2February 23at North Florida9-17Harmon StadiumRaifordWesson (0-1)Stohr11211-1
3February 24at North Florida6-11Harmon StadiumPryorBowen (0-1)---10481-2
4February 26UAB9-2Dudy Noble FieldF. Moore (1-0)CrawfordWeatherford (1)58102-2
5March 1Air Force3-1Dudy Noble FieldPigott (2-0)TruesdaleWeatherford (2)68663-2
6March 1Air Force4-6Dudy Noble FieldPingelCrosswhite (0-1)Petro68663-3
7March 2Air Force16-8Dudy Noble FieldBowen (1-1)Petro---64384-3
8March 4Arkansas-Little Rock5-9Dudy Noble FieldKlumppF. Moore (1-1)---5657
4-4
9March 5Arkansas-Little Rock6-3Dudy Noble FieldCarver (1-0)RomingerLalor (1)58515-4
10March 9Baylor4-5Dudy Noble FieldVolzPigott (2-1)Fritsch60215-5
11March 9Baylor11-16Dudy Noble FieldTollesonCrosswhite (0-2)---60215-6
12March 10Baylor3-6Dudy Noble FieldKempfBowen (1-2)Cassavechia56225-7
13March 11Mississippi Valley State15-0Dudy Noble FieldSwindle (1-0)Reid---57256-7
14March 12Mississippi Valley State11-5Dudy Noble FieldWilson (1-0)Gafford---57257-7
15March 14Ole Miss6-15Dudy Noble FieldLynnF. Moore (1-2)Morgan65717-80-1
16March 15Ole Miss6-11Dudy Noble FieldBittleLalor (0-1)---74827-90-2
17March 16Ole Miss4-0Dudy Noble FieldBowen (2-2)Baker---30258-91-2
18March 18at UAB24-10Young Memorial FieldSwindle (2-0)Huddleston---5759-9
19March 21at South Carolina1-9Sarge Frye FieldCiscoCarver (1-1)---48109-101-3
20March 22at South Carolina1-4Sarge Frye FieldAtwoodSwindle (2-1)Todd50299-111-4
21March 23at South Carolina3-10Sarge Frye FieldCooperBowen (2-3)43139-121-5
22March 25South Alabama5-6Dudy Noble FieldLaGrowHouston (0-1)G.Johnson58669-13
23March 26South Alabama7-6(11)Dudy Noble FieldCrosswhite (1-2)Dunning603710-13
24March 28Georgia3-2(10)Dudy Noble FieldCrosswhite (2-2)Fields756411-132-5
25March 29Georgia1-5Dudy Noble FieldDodsonSwindle (2-2)942411-142-6
26March 30Georgia3-5(10)Dudy Noble FieldMcReeLalor (0-2)Fields642611-152-7
27April 1Austin Peay13-4Dudy Noble FieldWilson (2-0)Brisbin581712-15
28April 2Austin Peay10-2Dudy Noble FieldHolinghead (1-0)Kole586213-15
29April 4at Kentucky6-5Cliff Hagan StadiumLalor (1-2)BaberWeatherford (3)14-153-7
30April 5at Kentucky4-13Cliff Hagan StadiumGreenSwindle (2-3)277214-163-8
31April 6at Kentucky8-9Cliff Hagan StadiumPaxtonBusby (0-1)269614-173-9
32April 8at Memphis8-9(10)AutoZone ParkMartinBusby (0-2)72914-18
33April 11Vanderbilt8-15Dudy Noble FieldMinorBusby (0-3)633014-193-10
34April 12Vanderbilt0-16Dudy Noble FieldCothamBowen (2-4)616514-203-11
35April 13Vanderbilt3-4Dudy Noble FieldChristianiLalor (1-3)Brewer582714-213-12
36April 15vs. Ole Miss6-5Trustmark ParkWeatherford (1-0)Baker786215-21
37April 19at Alabama7-21Sewell-Thomas StadiumHyattCrosswhite (2-3)15-223-13
38April 19at Alabama6-4Sewell-Thomas StadiumLalor (2-3)QuigleyWeatherford (4)521516-224-13
39April 20at Alabama3-4Sewell-Thomas StadiumGrahamBusby (0-4)420116-234-14
40April 22at Southern Miss7-11Pete Taylor ParkJohnstonWhitney (0-1)Weathers452516-24
41April 23at Southern Miss7-12Pete Taylor ParkBallingerHollinghead (1-1)446416-25
42April 25Tennessee4-3(12)Dudy Noble FieldWeatherford (2-0)Rosas617017-255-14
43April 26Tennessee9-12Dudy Noble FieldMorgadoBowen (2-5)617417-265-15
44April 27Tennessee7-3(8)Dudy Noble FieldLalor(3-3)Harris602718-266-15
45May 2at Auburn4-11Samford StadiumDaytonCrosswhite (2-4)211518-276-16
46May 3at Auburn4-3Samford StadiumBowen (3-5)ThompsonWeatherford(5)252319-277-16
47May 4at Auburn2-12Samford StadiumGreinkePigott (2-2)Woodall230619-287-17
48May 6at MTSU5-20Reese Smith FieldAlvisWhitney (0-2)Hyde92119-29
49May 7at MTSU4-3Reese Smith FieldBusby(1-4)FrancesconWeatherford(6)71320-29
50May 9at LSU6-15Alex Box StadiumColemanCrosswhite(2-5)854820-307-18
51May 10at LSU4-16Alex Box StadiumB. MartinBowen(3-6)831220-317-19
52May 11at LSU6-9Alex Box StadiumBradfordPigott (2-3)Bradshaw870120-327-20
53May 13Memphis4-1Dudy Noble FieldCrosswhite (3-5)MartinWeatherford (7)573121-32
54May 15Arkansas6-5Dudy Noble FieldWeatherford(3-0)Wells586522-328-20
55May 16Arkansas6-5Dudy Noble FieldWilson (3-0)Bolsinger617723-329-20
56May 17Arkansas10-15Dudy Noble FieldMahlerWeatherford(3-1)673823-339-21 :