January 24, 2013 10:12:39 AM
STARKVILLE -- The expectations for the Mississippi State University baseball team continue to rise.
But MSU coach John Cohen and his staff will ignore the fact the Bulldogs are ranked in the top 20 in two preseason polls and shortstop Adam Frazier is an All-America prospect as they continue preparations for the 2013 season.
"It took me years to realize I'm married to an artist," Cohen's wife, Nelle, said. "The building of programs and creating the atmosphere is just John using that side of the brain that is so natural for him."
Last week, Frazier added another preseason All-America honor to his list of credits when Perfect Game, the national baseball scouting service, made him a second-team selection. He was one of nine players from the Southeastern Conference to earn first- or second-team honors. Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association also have recognized Frazier. As a sophomore, Frazier led MSU and ranked third in the SEC with 91 hits and a .371 batting average. The Georgia native also was voted the MVP of the SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala.
"MSU had several candidates for All-America status with (junior outfielder) Hunter Renfroe and (sophomore right-handed reliever) Johnthan Holder as options," Perfect Game editor Kendall Rogers said.
MSU returns 23 lettermen and seven of eight starting position players returning from a team that went 40-24 last season. It will open practice Friday season ranked No. 13th by Collegiate Baseball and No. 16 by Perfect Game. Baseball America will unveil its preseason top 25 poll today. The Bulldogs are expected to earn their highest ranking from that publication since Cohen has been coach.
"We won't mention preseason rankings and honors to our players one time in practice," Cohen said. "What we'll do is continue our routine of timing and monitoring everything our guys do to make them better and give them goals to meet throughout the season. That works for us, and will continue to work. Trust me."
Before the season starts, Cohen understands this campaign will be judged on his ability to lead the Bulldogs back to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., for the first time since 2007, and the first time since Cohen replaced the legendary Ron Polk as coach.
"I told (former MSU Director of Athletics) Greg (Byrne) I have a real affection for this university and Starkville, Miss., because it represents a lot of things that I'm about," Cohen said. "This university is about blue collar, work your tail off, and it's not about status. It's about what you've done. It's about the character of who you are."
Cohen was introduced as MSU's 16th head baseball June 7, 2008, 18 years to the day after playing his final game as a Bulldog at the 1990 NCAA College World Series. Following sub-.500 seasons in his first two years as coach, Cohen has guided the Bulldogs to 38- and 40-win seasons the past two seasons. He knows fans expect him to him to push the Bulldogs to the next level this season.
"Ron Polk is a legend in this game, and that (national title) may be the only thing he didn't achieve here at Mississippi State," John Cohen said. "I played with 40 other guys at MSU that would've given our right arm to be able to give that to coach Polk. He deserved it, so I would love to honor his legacy by being able to win a national championship."
MSU will play host to Portland University on Feb. 15-17 in a four-game weekend series to begin a school-record 37-game homestand. MSU will play its first 19 games and 23 of its first 24 games at home before opening SEC road competition with a three-game series March 22-24 at the University of Kentucky. Cohen was the head coach for five years at Kentucky before returning to MSU.
Read more: http://www.cdispatch.com/sports/article.asp?aid=21766#ixzz2IxjEjpsx
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