2010 MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS BASEBALL

Mississippi State is coming off a season that many Bulldog fans would just assume forget. Very little went right for the team in 2009, and the season was a struggle from start to finish. And the sad fact is, because of the difficulties that life as a member of the Southeastern Conference presents, the team may have a way to go before it can climb itself out of the doldrums that are the SEC basement.

Life in the Southeastern Conference means one thing will remain constant every single season. That constant is that no matter what happens out of conference, the schedule within the SEC is going to be challenging. It always. The worst teams in the SEC are still among the middle tier nationally. And unfortunately for Miss State, it happens to be, arguably, the worst team in the SEC. Which makes every single SEC game that much more of a challenge.

Non conference play will present a unique series of challenges for the Bulldogs. And unfortunately, because of the difficulty that comes with playing in the SEC, there is an innate sense of urgency to finishing the non conference with a winning record, preferably with significantly more wins than losses in fact. And that may be a challenge considering the fact that the teams that Miss State is scheduled to play out of conference are by no means pushovers. The non conference schedule features matchups against teams such as Rhode Island, who was the Atlantic 10 runner up last year, Southeastern Louisiana, traditional Big 10 power Michigan State, Southeast Missouri State, Memphis, and Western Kentucky.

Key Returning Players:

2010.Ryan Duffy had one of the most well rounded seasons of any Mississippi State Bulldog in 2009. He batted .339, and also managed to hit 10 home runs and knock in 33 runs. Connor Powers was the most potent slugging bat for the Mississippi State Bulldogs over the course of the 2009 season. He batted for a solid average, .301, and mashed the ball with regularity. He hit 19 home runs and drove in 63 RBI.

On the hill, the Bulldogs have a number of returning hurlers, although none are projected to develop in 2010 into ace-level talents. The closest thing will probably be Nick Routt, who as a freshman, in 2009, was far and away the most consistent performer on the team (5-3, 4.15 ERA). Other returning pitchers of note include Southpaws Tyler Whitney (3-4, 5.18 ERA) and Forrest Moore (2-1, 5.91 ERA).

Key Departing Players

Miss State does have one thing going for it going into 2010, and that is that the majority of its better players are returning. However, it will be without the services of, arguably its best player in Scott DeLoach. Scott DeLoach had a tremendous season in 2009 in which he managed to bat .353 total and managed to get on base at a .488 clip. Another who will be the most missed is Grant Hogue (.315, 2 HR, 22 RBI in 2009).

In regards to pitching, most of the graduating hurlers had sub-par seasons in 2009, and as such, the Bulldogs may even experience a situation of addition by subtraction with their departure.

Check out Why Bully is the Mississippi Mascot and Why Mississippi State picked maroon and white as its official color?

Read about the Bulldog's great rivalry with Ole Miss at Best SEC Baseball Rivalry.

Order your Apparel, Merchandise

• 2009 Mississippi State Bulldogs Baseball


• John Cohen Biography --Mississippi head coach

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