Mississippi State first baseman named best player in Mississippi

Each year the Boo Ferriss Trophy goes to the best college baseball player in the state of Mississippi. This year, one of the guys up for the award leads the entire country in hits and yet the hardware went to somebody else.
That somebody is Mississippi State first baseman Brent Rooker who left the voters with simply no choice. In 2017, the standout junior won the SEC triple-crown, becoming the first player to do that in more than three decades.
Any other year, the honor likely would have gone to Southern Miss first baseman Dylan Burdeaux, who has six more hits than anyone else in the nation with 97.
USM teammates Taylor Braley and Matt Wallner were also worthy candidates, in addition to Delta State’s Zack Shannon, an absolute loaded class led by the SEC player of the year. “I know all the hard work that went into it, all the hours and all the dedication. And it’s just what it means to our university, to the state of Mississippi, to have it named after Boo Ferriss is a really cool thing,” said Rooker.
Mississippi State Head Baseball Coach Andy Cannizaro said, “His leadership has been off the charts, like we talked about earlier. And then in terms of his baseball ability, he just continues to get better each and every day, guys. And his approach to hitting, he truly has a professional approach to hitting facing amateur pitching right now.”
Southern Miss First Baseman Dylan Burdeaux said, “You’ve got to tip your cap to Brent. I mean the year he’s having is just unreal, the numbers he’s put up is just unprecedented. And you’ve got to think we’ve got three here, that obviously means they have to pitch to all three of us. They don’t have to pitch to that guy and he’s still doing that.”
Mississippi State players have now taken home four out of the last six Ferriss trophies. Jake Mangum being the most recent prior to Rooker in 2016.
Now let’s take a look at some of the other accolades from these finalists, starting with Rooker. Today, he also won the SEC Player of the Year, becoming the first MSU player to ever don that title.
Meanwhile, Burdeaux received his first weekly honor from Conference USA on Sunday and also joins Rooker as two of the 25 semi-finalists for the 2017 Dick Howser trophy going to the top player in collegiate baseball.
Wallner, the superstar freshman for the Golden Eagles, has accepted an invitation to attend the USA Baseball Collegiate National team training camp over the summer beginning in June.