Ball State pitcher Dohm to join the MSU program
Chris Lemonis has spent plenty of time in the state of Indiana coaching and recruiting over the years and he dipped back in to get another transfer portal addition on Friday.
Mississippi State landed 6-foot-3 Ball State pitcher Nate Dohm, he announced on Twitter. Dohm is a right hander from Zionsville, Ind., who just finished off his freshman season with Ball State. Dohm said he committed to the Bulldogs over offers from Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina State, Rutgers and others over the last week.
“It's been really crazy,” Dohm said. “I've been on the phone constantly. I was able to actually get down, go to Starkville for a visit and I fell in love with it. I just started talking to the coaches and then realized they had been with Indiana before and that was a really cool coincidence. They are really great guys and are definitely guys that are going to push you and let you be you and work with you. I specifically felt like they could do what it takes to help me accomplish my goals and dreams getting to the next level.”
Despite being a first year player, Dohm threw the second most innings of any reliever during the season with 41 innings logged and 15 games pitched.
Dohm was 4-3 with a 5.71 earned run average and gave up 32 hits, 26 earned runs, 26 walks and struck out 56 batters. Late in the season, the freshman started to come into his own and became a starter for Ball State including pitching seven strong innings against Miami (OH) giving up four hits and two runs while walking two batters and striking out a career high 13.
What really stood out to MSU coaches was the projectability that Dohm possesses. His fastball has jumped into the 94-97 mile per hour range consistently and this year he topped out at 99. He goes heavy with the fastball and slider when he's in the bullpen and uses a changeup when he's starting. Late in the year, he was really coming into his own.
“I had to go through some growing pains and learn a lot of lessons pitching at the college level,” Dohm said. “It was all for the best. The coaches at State really liked the fastball but also my ability to compete. I will compete for whatever role is available and I know that I can bring a lot of strikes to the table. This year I took pride in my ability to throw strikes. I want to bring my competitive nature to Starkville.”
As a senior in high school at Zionsville, Dohm was 6-1 in nine appearances with 42.2 innings pitched and just six earned runs for an ERA under 1. He walked just 14 batters and struck out 90 during the year.
Dohm is already competing in summer baseball currently and is in the Great Lakes League in Ohio. He will arrive in Starkville in August to work with the Bulldogs.
The addition of Dohm gives
Lemonis three transfer portal additions as he attempts to rebuild a roster that is having much turnover. Memphis' ALLAAC pitcher Landon Gartman committed last week to get the ball rolling and earlier this week ALL-SOCON slugger Colton Ledbetter committed to give MSU a strong outfielder.
The Bulldogs lost several starters either to graduation or the draft and 10 players have entered the transfer portal in the last few weeks. Those players are Bradley Wilson, Mikey Tepper, Jack Walker, Revy Higgins, Brayland Skinner, Davis Meche, Matt Corder, Gray Bane, Tayler Montiel and Andrew Walling.
There's still the Major League Baseball Draft to occur next month and MSU will be sweating that out for several of its top prospects, but otherwise it's a solid class that Lemonis is bringing in ranked No. 8 by Perfect Game. Lemonis is also in heavy pursuit of several other transfer prospects with more decisions likely to be made in the next few weeks.