STARKVILLE, Miss. — Team Lightning kept its hold on the Farm Bureau Diamond Dawg Classic on Friday night, beating Team Thunder 12-3 as former Mississippi State baseball players filled Dudy Noble Field in Starkville for the second edition of the alumni game.
Jonathan Papelbon, an MLB All-Star and World Series champion who captained Lightning a year ago, managed the winning side this time. Mitch Moreland, another former Bulldog with the same résumé, ran the Thunder dugout. Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro, whose names the two teams carry, moved up to general manager roles.
The seven-inning exhibition, put on by State 1878, started at 7 p.m. Central with a first-pitch temperature near 59 degrees and was streamed on SEC Network+.
Tanner Allen, the 2021 SEC Player of the Year and a captain for Lightning, drove a ball into the right-center gap in the bottom of the first inning. Hunter Renfroe, a hero of the 2013 run to the College World Series finals, also came up to bat for the winners. Pitchers from earlier eras returned too, including lefty Justin Pigott and Jacob Billingsley.
The two rosters combined for 45 professional players and 17 who reached the major leagues, along with eight MLB All-Stars and six NCAA national champions. Jake Mangum, the SEC career hits leader who plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates, captained Thunder.
Lightning also won the first Diamond Dawg Classic in 2025, when a crowd of 10,172 saw the game end tied 8-8 after seven innings and Renfroe beat Moreland in a swing-off to settle it.
The game opened Mississippi State homecoming weekend in Starkville.
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