MSU’s Brad Cumbest still plays football and baseball, but he’ll likely pick one sport
When the Mississippi State baseball team arrives in Biloxi Tuesday for a two-game series with Texas Tech, the Bulldogs will bring with them three young players who hail from the Coast.
Sophomore outfielder/designated hitter Brad Cumbest played his high school ball at East Central and another sophomore, infielder Landon Jordan, had a stellar career at Hancock. Freshman catcher/right-handed pitcher Logan Tanner, a former George County standout, is the youngest of the group.
The Red Raiders and Bulldogs play at 6 p.m. Tuesday at MGM Park with Game 2 set for 5 p.m. Wednesday. For $13 and up, tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.com and at the Biloxi Shuckers’ ticket office.
Texas Tech, which is ranked No. 2 in the nation, rolls in with a record of 16-1 after sweeping Rice this past weekend. The Red Raiders have established themselves as one of the nation’s top programs after reaching the College World Series in each of the last two seasons.
Mississippi State sits at 10-4 as it prepares to start SEC competition this weekend with a home series against Arkansas. The Bulldogs are coming off their own sweep of Quinnipiac in Starkville.
Brad Cumbest balances football, baseball
Cumbest is a dual-sport athlete who saw some action at tight end for the MSU football team in 2019 as a redshirt freshman, catching a pair of passes for 16 yards.
The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Cumbest had a solid debut season with the baseball squad in 2019, hitting .286 with a homer and 11 RBIs in 49 at-bats.
This season, his numbers have taken a dip as he’s gone 0-for-8 over his last four games, but there’s no question that he has the potential to bring big-time power to the Bulldogs’ lineup after hitting eight homers as a senior at East Central.
His ability to hit home runs well over 400 feet drew the interest of MLB scouts at East Central High School, but he chose to play football on the college level and he went undrafted in 2018.
In his second year of pulling double duty in baseball and football, Cumbest realizes he will eventually have to settle on one sport to close out his college career.
“Probably, eventually down the road I’ll pick one,” Cumbest told the Sun Herald in a phone interview on Monday. He did not indicate which sport might be eliminated.
With the start of football spring practice on March 20, Cumbest will soon be actively juggling two sports.
“I’ll probably go over to football two or three times a week,” he said.
The spring and summer will be crucial for Cumbest to learn new head coach Mike Leach’s air raid system after playing the last two seasons under Joe Moorhead, who was fired in January.
Cumbest admits that he wasn’t all that familiar with the former Washington State coach before he was hired by MSU on Jan. 9.
“When I figured out what he likes to do, I was like, ‘Yeah, this guy likes throw the football a little bit,’” he said.
As a tight end, it’s unclear where Cumbest might fit in with Leach since the coach rarely uses the position in his offense. He’ll likely be bunched in with the rest of the receivers, and Cumbest does have experience at lining up at wideout in high school.
Leach told the The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, in October that he’s open to finding a role for a tight end in his offense, but he has to be a good one.
“If you can find one, they’re outstanding and it’s a lot of fun, too,” Leach told the paper. “The best tight ends we have are typically playing D-line. The best tight end we’ve had through here I can think of was Logan Tago, but we needed him at D-end, and if we have enough D-linemen, I’d love to have one on offense.”
This spring and summer will be a critical time for Cumbest’s future in the football program.
“I’ve got to get into the system and see what I can do for them,” he said.
Logan Tanner on the rise for MSU
Tanner’s decision to play college baseball as opposed to going pro is paying off so far for the freshman.
Tanner, who was recently named the MSU Student-Athlete of the Week, has showed off a cannon arm behind the plate and a bat that’s improving by the week. With 12 games played and nine starts, Tanner is hitting .257 with two homers, a double and four RBIs in 35 at-bats.
Tanner played in all three games this past weekend and hit a home run on Sunday as the Bulldogs won 8-4 to finish off the sweep of Quinnipiac.
He features a fastball that clears 95 mph, but Tanner has yet to take the mound at MSU.
Landon Jordan’s sophomore season
Jordan, who hit .328 during his freshman season last year, hasn’t swung the bat as well early as a sophomore. He is hitting .194 with no extra-base hits in 31 at-bats.
Jordan, who has played third base and received some time at designated hitter, hopes his batting average will take a jump as the weather starts to warm up. As a senior at Hancock, he hit .579.
This story was originally published March 9, 2020 at 1:11 PM.
