College Sports

Ron Polk, head baseball coach at Mississippi State University, coached his last game for the Diamond Dawgs on Saturday in Starkville, Miss. MSU lost the game 15-10 to Arkansas to finish their season 23-33 (9-21 in SEC play).

The game was Polk’s 2,075th and marked the end of his first losing season in 35 years of coaching. He ranks seventh on the NCAA’s career wins list and finished his career with a combined won-loss record of 1,373-700-2 with Mississippi State (29 years), Georgia (2 years) and Georgia Southern (4 years). And he retires as the winningest coach in SEC sports history.

Polk took MSU to six College World Series appearances, most recently following the 2007 season. He originally retired from coaching at MSU following the 1997 season, but was lured back to the college ranks by Georgia in 2000. After two years with UGa, he returned to MSU when Pat McMahon departed for the University of Florida.

“Now is the right time to move on,” said Polk. “There comes a time when everybody has to do something else. There are so many memories from my time here. I want to thank the players and my assistant coaches for a wonderful ride.”

Polk has been taking on the NCAA for the last few years. In his opinion (and the opinion of many others) college baseball is being unfairly hit with caps on scholarships and other sanctions that end up punishing the student-athletes… all for the sake of Title IX.

A pre-game ceremony honored Polk for his contributions to the University and collegiate baseball. Mike Slive, Southeastern Conference commissioner, presented him with a box of cigars and a framed base and Mississippi State athletic director Larry Templeton presented the coach with a Buick. More than 80 “Diamond Dawg” players returned to take part in the festivities.

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