MSU’s Small Named Pitcher of the Year Finalist

Photo Credit: Aaron Cornia, Mississippi State Athletics

LUBBOCK, Texas (Miss. St. Athletics) – Enjoying one of the most dominant seasons on the mound in Mississippi State baseball history, redshirt-junior Ethan Small continues to add to his laundry list of accolades, as he was named one of five College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Year finalists.

The award has been handed out since 2009 and the College Baseball Foundation has honored such college pitching standouts as Stephen Strasburg (2009), Trevor Bauer (2011), Aaron Nola (2014) and Carson Fulmer (2015) with the award during its first 10 years.

Small becomes Mississippi State’s first finalist, with Chris Stratton the only other Diamond Dawg to earn semifinalist honors, doing so during his SEC Pitcher of the Year campaign in 2012.

Earlier this month, Small joined Stratton as the only two SEC Pitcher of the Year winners in program history, with the award first handed out in 2003. The left hander also earned first-team All-SEC honors, becoming the first MSU pitcher since Dakota Hudson in 2016 to garner a spot on the All-SEC first team.

Small has been up to the challenge each week as the No. 1 starter for the Bulldogs, posting an 8-2 record – including a 7-1 mark in SEC play – and a 1.80 ERA. The southpaw has now allowed more than three runs in a start all season long. Overall, he has limited the opposition to two-or-fewer runs in 14 of 15 starts.

Against ranked opponents, Small posted a 5-2 record and 1.64 ERA in nine starts, with Mississippi State owning a 6-3 record in those games. Two of those three losses came in one-run games, while the other loss was a two-run loss at Arkansas. In 55 innings of work versus the nation’s best teams, Small allowed just 11 runs on 22 hits. He struck out 90 and walked just 16, limiting the opposition to a .120 batting average against.

In 90 total innings of work in 2019, Small has struck out 150 batters, the second-highest total in MSU single-season history and No. 2 in the NCAA this season. To make that number even more impressive, he has accumulated those strikeouts while walking just 24 batters. He owns the second-best WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) in the NCAA at 0.80 and his 1.80 ERA is No. 3 in the Southeastern Conference and No. 13 in the NCAA.

On the career charts, Small (292) looks to become just the third Diamond Dawg in program history to reach the 300-strikeout mark for a career, joining Eric Dubose (428; 1995-07) and Jeff Brantley (364; 1982-85). He is already one of just six MSU pitchers with multiple 100-stikeout seasons, also piling up 122 strikeouts last season.

Mississippi State (46-13) opens the NCAA Starkville Regional against SWAC champion Southern on Friday, May 31 at Noon.