All that’s left for MSU is to win
OMAHA, Neb. — Mississippi State is playing with house money.
The Bulldogs (37-27) were left for dead in February following a seasonopening sweep at the hands of Southern Miss and the resignation of head coach Andy Cannizaro.
They were 14-15 overall and 2-7 in
SEC play through the month of March, and the question was whether State would make it to the SEC Tournament, let alone get a bid to an NCAA Regional.
But here they are, preparing to open their first College World Series since 2013 against the Washington Huskies (35-24) at 7 p.m. at T.D. Ameritrade Park.
The Bulldogs took batting practice here Thursday and their newly minted Baseball America Coach of the Year Gary Henderson was sitting next to his peers from Oregon State, North Carolina and Washington in the opening press conference.
“It’s awesome,” left fielder Rowdey Jordan said. “We’ve played all this season, gone through all the workouts and what not to get here, and you know, we’re finally here.” It’s been a remarkable journey. On the day Cannizaro stepped down, MSU star center fielder Jake Mangum again shared former Dallas’ Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo’s tweet of a scene from the classic baseball movie “Major League.”
He had tweeted the video once before — when it was announced that John Cohen was stepping down as MSU coach to take the athletic director job in Starkville.
It’s the locker room scene in which the seemingly lost-cause Cleveland Indians learn their vindictive owner has decided to move the franchise to Miami and replace all the existing players.
“Well, I guess there’s only one thing left to do,” the team’s veteran catcher Jake Taylor says.
“What’s that?” teammate Roger Dorn asks.
“Win the whole (expletive) thing,” Taylor responds.
That’s the attitude this Mississippi State team has adopted, and it’s served them well through the end of the regular season and two rounds into the NCAA Tournament.
“We’re still playing for respect and we always will be,” Jordan said. “I guess we’ve got some now that we’ve got to this point, but we still feel like we have something to prove.
“We talk about the series sweep at Southern Miss. It was embarrassing. But it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, and we’re ready and we’re focused on having a good tournament up in Omaha.”
If the Bulldogs can continue to play the way they have the past two weeks, they’ve got a chance to make a splash here.
If they hit in the clutch like they did in the Tallahassee Regional and get the kind of pitching performances they got against Nashville in the Super Regional, look out.