It's officially do or die time for Mississippi State baseball. The Diamond Dawgs dropped their second game of the Charlottesville regional to the Virginia Cavaliers 5-4 Saturday night, moving them into the loser's bracket.
They will now play a rematch with their game one opponent, St. John's, in an elimination game Sunday morning. The Bulldogs defeated the Johnnie's 5-2 Friday night with Dakota Jordan's 10th-inning, 3-run, walk-off home run.
Mississippi State will have to defeat St. John's once again if they want to keep their season going.
Mississippi State baseball vs St. John's Game Time and TV Broadcast
11:00 am CT on ESPN+
St. John's won a thriller over Penn to avoid elimination Saturday
The Johnnie's already began their trek through the loser's bracket, keeping their season alive with a thrilling, 12-inning win over the Penn Quakers Saturday afternoon. St. John's looked primed to rout Penn for much of the game, leading 6-1 after five. The Quakers added a run in the 6th before exploding for seven runs in the 7th to grab a 9-6 lead.
A two-run shot in the 8th and one-run shot in the 9th would tie things back up for St. John's. Both lineups were quiet in the 10th and 11th, but in the 12th, SJU would draw a two out walk, steal second, and bring the runner home with a single to get the win.
St. John's pitching staff may be short-handed Sunday
Left-hander Evan Chaffee will almost certainly take the mound for the Johnnies. He's been solid this year with a 4.30 ERA, and pitched a great game in the Big East Tournament against Georgetown. But behind him, SJU could have questions. They threw four bullpen arms during their marathon against Penn. State, meanwhile, has used just two relievers in two games, so they should have an edge there.
Can the Bulldogs finally produce a complete effort?
State has yet to play a game with both good pitching and consistent production at the plate since the end of the regular season. They've generally gotten good enough outings on the mound each game going back to the SEC Tournament. But the lineup continues to go through long stretches of ineptitude at the plate.
Even if their wins, their runs have largely come from one or two players doing just enough in a lone inning to save them. Having quality at-bats throughout a game hasn't happened.
Can they get complete performance Sunday? You have to be confident in Books Auger taking the mound after his SEC Tournament performance, and as mentioned, State will have most of it's bullpen ready to go. A strong showing likely comes down to MSU's bats finally breaking through.
Not to say that's necessary for State to win. We've obviously seen them succeed in these tight, low-scoring games. But at some point, they're going to have to score some runs.
Their season may depend on it Sunday.