Mississippi State Baseball selected as the 2-seed in Hattiesburg Regional

Oct 16, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of a glove and baseball during batting practice prior to game one of the ALCS between the Kansas City Royals and the Toronto Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 16, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of a glove and baseball during batting practice prior to game one of the ALCS between the Kansas City Royals and the Toronto Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mississippi State has been selected to start their road to Omaha in Southern Miss’ regional as the 2-seed.

It’s set.

The Bulldogs have been selected to the Hattiesburg Regional in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

Southern Miss is the one-seed, Mississippi State is the two-seed, South Alabama is the three-seed, and the University of Illinois at Chicago is the four-seed in the Hattiesburg Regional.

Mississippi State is familiar with both the host and South Alabama, playing the Golden Eagles once and the Jaguars three times already this season. The Bulldogs fell to Southern Miss 7-5 in Pearl in a game that State’s late rally came up a little bit short.

The Bulldogs knocked off the Jags twice in Starkville during the month of March. Friday’s games featured Konnor Pilkington striking out 13 batters en route to a 2-0 win in the Dude. Saturday’s game was rained out, but the two teams met again the following day. State beat the Jaguars 8-6 in a game that Brent Rooker hitting one of his 21 home-runs of the year.

In the third match up, this time in April, South beat State in Mobile 5-2. State has the season edge on the Jags two wins to one.

Here is an overview of each team in State’s regional:

Southern Miss

Overall Record: 48-12
Conference (Conference USA) Record: 25-5
RPI: 11
Record against top-50: 11-6
1-0 vs Mississippi State

South Alabama

Overall Record: 39-19
Conference (Sun Belt) Record: 22-8
RPI: 30
Record against top-50: 3-10
1-2 vs Mississippi State

UIC

Overall Record: 38-15
Conference (Horizon League) Record: 22-8
RPI: 99
Record against top-50: 2-1

*Numbers gathered from Warren Nolan

Southern Miss will start things off against the Dragons on Friday at 1:00 p.m. local time. The Bulldogs and the Jaguars will battle Friday evening at 6:00 p.m.

Here is the full schedule, courtesy of Mississippi State’s official baseball account:

Tickets are expected to be tough to get, but expect as many Mississippi State fans as possible to be fighting to get in to see their Diamond Dawgs play.

It is also worth noting that the Hattiesburg Regional is matched up with the Baton Rouge Regional — potentially setting up an intriguing Super Regional series.

Maroon and White Nation will have full coverage on the baseball team’s road to Omaha.