MSU’s Mangum Becomes First Player to Capture a Second C Spire Ferriss Trophy

JACKSON, Miss., (May 10, 2019) – For the first time in the 16-year history of the C Spire Ferriss Trophy, the award has a two-time winner.  Mississippi State centerfielder, Jake Mangum, who won the award as a freshman in 2016, took home the bronze trophy today, awarded annually\ to the most outstanding college baseball player.

Mangum has led the Bulldogs this season with 45 victories and earlier this year became the all-time SEC hits leader.He won the award over four other finalists, Matt Wallner of the University of Southern Mississippi, Tyler Keenan and Grae Kessinger of Ole Miss and his teammate, pitcher Ethan Small. The winner was selected by votes of college coaches and pro scouts that cover Mississippi in combination with a fan vote presented by C Spire. Mangum won the fan voting which counts for 10% of the total with 3,923 votes of the 8,500 that were cast.

Mangum will now have the opportunity to lead the Bulldogs once again headed into the SEC Tournament in Hoover, AL this week.  Mangum leads the league in batting average and is the all-time hit leader in the conference.  The goal of Coach Chris Lemonis is to not only reach Omaha once again but to gain the school’s first national title.

For the regular season, Mangum hit .375 and scored 65 runs.  His 95 base hits led the conference.  He hit twenty doubles, three triples, and one home run.  He was also twenty-one for twenty-seven in stolen bases.

The C Spire Ferriss Trophy is a part of the C Spire Outstanding Award Series. The award is named in honor of Dave “Boo” Ferriss, the former Mississippi State great and Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer and long-time Delta State University coach. Ferriss’s wife, Mrs. Miriam Ferriss, and daughter, Margaret Ferriss White, were in attendance for the presentation of the trophy.