Mississippi State sets starting rotation for opening weekend
It is officially game week for the Mississippi State baseball team and the Diamond Dawgs are getting set to throw out first pitch on Chris Lemonis’ seventh year.
The coach officially announced who will be taking the hill for the first three games of the season as State is set to pitch junior LHP Pico Kohn on Friday, senior RHP Karson Ligon on Saturday and senior RHP Stone Simmons. While those are the first choices of the year, it’s a unit that isn’t quite set in a permanent marker the rest of the year.
“We have a lot of guys in the mix that could start. A lot of our talent on the mound is young and haven’t played at (Dudy Noble Field) yet, so maybe handing it to some of the older guys. I think there’s a good mix right now, but there are some younger guys that can start down the road.”
Kohn set to be State’s ace
The season-opening start is a big one for Kohn as the junior steps into some high expectations in 2025. Kohn had a solid freshman season in 2022 when he threw 21 games and had a 4.91 ERA in 36.2 innings with 35 strikeouts and 18 walks. An elbow injury kept him out for all of 2023 and for most of 2024.
When he returned last year, Kohn knocked off some rust and became a key piece of the pitching staff. He threw 29.1 innings in just nine games and had a 3.38 ERA with 35 strikeouts and 11 walks. Kohn had a strong final game against Virginia in the Regional and threw 7.0 innings in his start with six hits, two earned runs, one walk and eight strikeouts.
“When you go back to the Virginia game and he’s 92-94 (mph) against arguably the best offensive lineups in college baseball. That’s what you’re hoping for when he came back,” Lemonis said. “He came back this season because there were areas he wanted to get better. He’s the heaviest he’s been in his career and I think he’s mechanically the strongest he’s been in his career.”
On Saturday, Ligon steps into a weekend starting role. The former Miami pitcher did start in two of his 15 appearances last year and had a 4.56 ERA in 23.2 innings. Walks were an issue for Ligon with 21 during the season and that is something the coaching staff will monitor in his starts, but the veteran pitcher’s velocity has climbed to 96 mph.
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Sunday presents probably the most intrigue for many State fans as it’s the return of Simmons for the first time since March 5, 2022. That game against Tulane started a journey for Simmons that has been grueling with two elbow surgeries.
Simmons began pitching again this summer and has been back on the mound for the Bulldogs in the fall and spring.
“I’m real confident,” Lemonis said of Simmons. “He’s probably a week behind everyone else, so just building up his volume and not pushing too hard too early. You’ll see us handle him more than some of the other starters. He’s probably one of the most efficient starters we have.”
State hosts Manhattan beginning Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. Saturday’s game is tentatively scheduled for 2 p.m. with weather expected to impact the day in some fashion. The series will close out on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
