Mississippi State set to compete in 2025 Astros Foundation College Classic in Houston
For the first time since 2018, Mississippi State will be headed to Houston, Texas coto take part in Round Robin baseball action.
Chris Lemonis’ 2025 squad will be competing in the Astros Foundation College Classic beginning on February 28 inside the Houston Astros Minute Maid Park. State will take part along with the two participants in the National Championship series in Tennessee and Texas A&M.
The three SEC schools will be opposite Rice, Oklahoma State and Arizona and will play Round Robin action over the course of three days. State takes on Rice on Friday, Feb. 28 at 11:05 a.m., Arizona at 3:05 p.m. on Saturday, March 1, and against Oklahoma State at 2:05 p.m. on Sunday, March 2.
The Bulldogs also played at Minute Maid in 2018 when State competed in the Shriner’s College Classic and beat Louisiana, Houston and Sam Houston State. The Bulldogs have also played in Classics over the years in Frisco and Arlington.
Rice is a proud program out of Texas but has fallen on hard times. The Owls have 18 conference titles, seven College World Series appearances and a National Championship, but the program has had six-straight losing seasons with a 21-37 finish last year in year two under Jose Cruz Jr.
Arizona will begin its first season in the Big 12 this season. This past year, the Wildcats managed to win the Pac-12 regular season and conference tournament title in its final season. Chip Hale has had the Wildcats in the NCAA Regionals in all three of his seasons since replacing Jay Johnson as head coach.
For OSU, Josh Holiday has build one of the most consistent Big 12 programs. Since taking over in 2013, Holiday has had the Cowboys in the Regionals every season with three tournament championships, two regular season conference titles and a CWS appearance.
Tennessee and A&M come into their season next year with some mixed thoughts. Both teams had strong seasons finish in the CWS championship with UT winning its first national championship in school history. The next day, Aggie head coach Jim Schlossnagle left for rival Texas and A&M promoted hitting coach Michael Earley.
The Bulldogs head into the season with a lot of question marks of their own. State is losing two weekend starting pitchers in Khal Stephen and Jurrangelo Cijntje and most of the starting lineup is on the move as well.
After the Bulldogs’ poor non-conference schedule in 2024, this neutral site classic should give State a nice boost early on in the season and get the team prepared for another tough SEC slate.
