What Does The 2018 SEC Tournament Loss Mean For Mississippi State Baseball?
By Ethan Lee
Mississippi State baseball is now looking towards the upcoming NCAA Tournament
Last night, the Mississippi State baseball team fell to the LSU Tigers. The Mississippi State Bulldogs actually led the Tigers for much of the game but simply couldn’t hold on for the win. Mississippi State was up 3-0 on LSU as the 4th inning wrapped up.
But the Bulldogs fell behind after a solid comeback effort by LSU tied the game up in the 6th inning and the Tigers took the lead in the bottom of the 7th inning. LSU then claimed the game by a score of 8-5 after a slight debacle in which a LSU pitcher appears to hurl crass insults at Mississippi State baseball’s Hunter Stovall.
The Tigers are moving on to play Florida in the SEC Tournament later today. The Bulldogs are back at home. Now, MSU’s baseball team is back in Starkville, Mississippi as the rest of the SEC Tournament plays out.
So… Now what?
The Bulldogs can’t play anymore games until more games are announced. And more games won’t be announced, or scheduled, until the NCAA Baseball Tournament’s selection committee actually selects the NCAA Tournament field.
Will the Mississippi State baseball team still make the NCAA Tournament? Is the Bulldogs’ resume good enough to lock up a spot in a regional even without a win in the SEC Tournament.
So, the Mississippi State baseball team didn’t really need to add much to their resume to get into the NCAA Tournament. Another win or two would have been nice from a momentum perspective, but it wasn’t necessary from a resume perspective.
Mississippi State has accomplished a good amount this season.
Right now, the Mississippi State baseball team is 9-1 against top 5 ranked teams in the country. The Bulldogs beat Ole Miss in an SEC series. At the time, the Rebels were the 3rd ranked team nationally. Then, Mississippi State swept the Arkansas Razorbacks, also the 3rd ranked team in the country at that time. Those wins gave MSU a 5-1 record over top 3 ranked teams in the country.
MSU grabbed another win against Ole Miss in the midweek Governor’s Cup matchup, moving the record to 6-1 on the season. And, this past weekend, Mississippi State swept the No. 1 ranked Florida Gators with two blowout victories and a solid comeback win.
That’s 9-1 against teams that could, and should, all be national seeds in the hosting discussion. Plus, Mississippi State’s RPI is currently at 26th overall. The Bulldogs have the 8th toughest strength of schedule.
Alright, the Bulldogs should still be safe in the NCAA Tournament discussion, but the loss in the SEC Tournament is still not a good thing. Right?
From a momentum perspective, this hurts the Bulldogs a bit. Mississippi State swept Florida and could have used a bit more momentum before heading into the NCAA Regionals. Carrying that energy forward would have helped the Bulldogs in postseason play. But that doesn’t mean that the loss was a bad thing.
Playing in the SEC Tournament can take a lot out of a team’s pitching staff. There’s a slew of opponents and games that you have to get through to even make it to the championship game on Sunday, May 27th. The Bulldogs don’t have as much pitching depth as they have in years past. Mississippi State, more than likely, could not have made much of a run into the SEC Tournament this season.
Plus, all of those games in the SEC Tournament happen on short rest. And the NCAA Regionals start on June 1st. Which is next Friday. Which, that’s coming up pretty quickly.
Next: LSU Pitcher Appears To Hurl Crass Insult At Hunter Stovall
The Mississippi State baseball team now has an opportunity to rest up and get ready for whatever regional they are seeded into. MSU is going to need to be as close to 100% going into the NCAA Tournament as they possibly can at this point. The Bulldogs don’t have the depth that others do and MSU can’t afford to risk anything happening between now and then. Rest, at this point, is good for this team.