Mississippi State baseball's powerful lineup sets program record

Down in Tallahassee, the Bulldogs made program history.
Mississippi State's Hunter Hines (44) celebrating with teammates after hitting a home run to tie the game against Tennessee in their NCAA baseball game in Knoxville, Tenn. on Thursday, April 27, 2023.

Ut Baseball Miss St
Mississippi State's Hunter Hines (44) celebrating with teammates after hitting a home run to tie the game against Tennessee in their NCAA baseball game in Knoxville, Tenn. on Thursday, April 27, 2023. Ut Baseball Miss St | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Mississippi State baseball is currently battling their way through regional play. Out in Tallahassee, the Bulldogs are 1-1. They won their first regional matchup against Northeastern to move into the winners' bracket but dropped their second game to host Florida State, putting them in must-win mode the rest of the way.

Whether or not the Diamond Dawgs are able to bounce back from the loss and keep their postseason going is TBD, but regardless of if that happens or not, this group made some history in Tallahassee.

Mississippi State Bulldogs set school record for single-season home runs

Earlier this season, Bulldogs first-baseman Hunter Hines became the new home run king in Starkville, setting the school record for career home runs. Now his teammates are joining him in making school history. In Friday night's regional-opening win over Northeastern, the 2025 team set a school record for single-season home runs.

In the third inning, a 2-run shot by Joe Powell would give Mississippi State it's 98th long ball of the year, the most in school history. Noah Sullivan would add No. 99 in the ninth.

Power hitting has been a specialty for MSU this year. Four members of the lineup have hit double-digit home runs, with hotshot Ace Reese leading way with 21 bombs.

The previous record for home runs in a single-season in Starkville was held by the 1998 Diamond Dawgs, who went deep 97 times. That Mississippi State made it all the way to Omaha. They had five players in the lineup hit at least 10 home runs, led by Richard Lee with 19.

Seeing as how they reached the College World Series, that group played quite a few games, 65 in total. They averaged 1.49 home runs per game. The 2025 Diamond Dawgs, on the other hand, needed just 56 games to hit their 98th and 99th home runs of the season, a rate of 1.77 deep shots per game.

And they've only extended the record further with a pair of home runs in Saturday's loss to Florida State, pushing the season total 101. Mississippi State is guaranteed at least one more game in the Tallahassee Regional, so they'll get the chance to tack onto that record more. And if they're going to fight back, they're likely going to need the long ball.