Mississippi State baseball earns Top 15 recruiting class from Collegiate Baseball

It's the second-straight Top-15 class from the publication

The following is courtesy of Mississippi State media relations:

The Mississippi State baseball program and head coach Chris Lemonis have received the second top-25 ranking for the 2020 recruiting class, as Collegiate Baseball ranked the 22-person class No. 11 nationally on Friday (Sept. 18).

For Lemonis and his staff – including assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Jake Gautreau, and assistant coaches Scott Foxhall and Kyle Cheesebrough – this marks three straight classes ranked by the publication, with the 2018 (No. 24) and 2019 (No. 9) classes each landing in the top 25 nationally.

Already, the incoming class was tabbed as the No. 17-ranked group in the country by Baseball America.

The 22 newcomers include two Division I transfer student-athletes, eight junior college products and 12 freshmen. In all, nine states are represented, including 10 student-athletes that hail from the Magnolia State.

Graduate transfer Scott Debrule joins the program from Jacksonville University, where he was a two-time All-Atlantic Sun pick and ended 2020 among the top 15 active Division I leaders in hits (2nd; 249), at-bats (2nd; 770), games played (3rd; 197) and runs scored (15th; 138). Freshman Stone Simmons will enter his second collegiate season with the Bulldogs after Furman dropped its program following 2020. After leading all Texas private school pitchers in ERA and victories as a senior in high school, Simmons became the Paladins No. 1 starter by the end of his true freshman season.

Of the freshmen, seven were ranked among the Perfect Game top 500 national prospects and 11 of them ranked inside the top 16 in their respective states. Right-handed pitchers Jackson Fristoe (Paducah, Ky.) and Mikey Tepper (Fort Mill, S.C.) were the top-rated recruits from their respective states, while Kellum Clark (No. 4), Cade Smith (No. 6), Shane Lewis (No. 9), Peyton Puckett (No. 12) and Blayze Berry (No. 16) were each among the top 20 in-state prospects.

Three of the top junior college pitchers landed on campus, as left-handed pitchers Cameron Tullar and Kole Alford are joined by right-hander Parker Stinnett. Among junior college prospects nationally, the trio ranked No. 31, 29 and 30, respectively, while fellow pitchers Preston Johnson (No. 101) and Drew Talley (No. 127) also ranked among the top JUCO prospects in the country according to Perfect Game.

2020 Collegiate Baseball Top 40 Recruiting Classes

1. Miami (Fla.)

2. Vanderbilt

3. LSU

4. Arizona

5. Florida

6. UCLA

7. Texas

8. South Carolina

9. Arkansas

10. Arizona State

11. Mississippi State

12. Florida State

13. TCU

14. Texas Tech

15. Georgia Tech

16. Georgia

17. North Carolina

18. Ole Miss

19. Auburn

20. Virginia

21. Louisville

22. Oklahoma

23. Oklahoma State

24. Houston

25. Tennessee

26. Stanford

27. USC

28. Clemson

29. Washington State

30. Duke

31. FIU

32. Wake Forest

33. Missouri

34. San Diego

35. East Carolina

36. Michigan

37. Kentucky

38. Texas A&M

39. Oregon

40. NC State

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