Fall ball is over, and the new schedule remains three months away. But this is Mississippi State where baseball is always in season. Especially when there is opportunity to applaud history in person.

This is why thousands of fans from all generations will assemble in Polk-Dement Stadium on Friday evening to enjoy the second Diamond Dog Classic event, sponsored by Farm Bureau. A glittering gallery of stars from past Mississippi State squads return to Dudy Noble Field for an alumni game.

Tickets remain on sale and first pitch is set for 7:00 with none other than Nat ‘Buck’ Showalter booked to throw it.

The expected participants were announced weeks ago and have been divided into separate squads, hand-picked by this year’s managers of Mitch Moreland and Jonathan Papelbon. They are paired with the 2025 game’s managers Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro respectively, and both have no lack of staff assistants as listed here.

As drafted, the committed rosters are:

Team Thunder
Manager: Mitch Moreland General Manager: Will Clark Assistant Coaches: Ed Easley, Jeff Brantley, Bobby Thigpen, Scott Clark, Trent Intorcia
Captain: OF Jake Mangum
RHP Jacob Billingsley, RHP Ben Bracewell, OF Cody Brown, OF Brad Corley, 2B Scotty Dubrule, OF Jeff Flagg, RHP Cole Gordon, 1B Hunter Hines, RHP Zac Houston, OF Reid Humphreys, SS David Mershon, 1B Tyler Moore, LHP Luis Pollorena, C Joe Powell, RHP Spencer Price, C Dustin Skelton, RHP Blake Smith, 3B Nick Vickerson, OF Jake Vickerson.
Team Lightning
Manager: Jonathan Papelbon General Manager: Rafael Palmeiro Assistant Coaches: Jonathan Holder, Konnor Pilkington, Jay Powell, Wes Rea, Paul Malholm
Captain: OF Tanner Allen
2B Jet Butler, C Marshall Gilbert, SS Ryan Gridley, C Luke Hancock, OF Grant Hogue, RHP Keegan James, RHP Devin Jones, OF Rowdey Jordan, 2B Amani Larry, C Johnny Long, LHP Ross Mitchell, 3B Jarrod Parks, RHP Peyton Plumlee, 1B Connor Powers, OF Hunter Renfroe, RHP Brandon Smith, C Craig Tatum, LHP Vance Tatum, RHP Colby White.

By accounting of Mississippi State’s media relations department, there are 16 All-Americans, 32 College World Series participants, six members of the 2021 national championship team, and 45 who played or are still playing professional baseball. Of those, 16 have been or are in the Major Leagues today. There are six first-round MLB draft picks and two who have World Championship rings as MSU alumni.

And that is just those who are planning to play in the game. The managing staff as well features former MLB standouts not to mention some of the most-honored Diamond Dogs ever to don M-over-S.

The first edition of the Diamond Dog Classic was a resounding success for Mississippi State, and for that matter college baseball. A crowd of over 10,000 turned out on the Friday evening to watch the contest go down to a slug-off. Hunter Renfroe edged Moreland in that matchup to make Palmeiro’s Team Lightning the winner after a 8-8 finish to regulation innings.

This year’s game is also set to go seven innings, with a time cap of two hours per an athletic department official.

Parking policies for the home football weekend apply across campus.