Omaha opens door to Bulldogs, CWS teams
MSU begins College World Series run
Jake Mangum answered the question directly when it was posed to him prior to this season even beginning.
The junior center fielder was asked why he came back to Mississippi State for his junior year when he could have left after being taken in the Major League Baseball Draft back in 2017.
“We've gone 0-4 in super regionals,” Mangum said in early February. “There was no way I was going to leave after that. We went 0-2 at home and then 0-2 on the road. I'm not ending on that.
“That wasn't fun. We want to go to Omaha.”
Mangum and his teammates have gotten their wish. Tonight at 7 p.m., Mississippi State (37-27) faces Washington (35-24) as the Bulldogs begin their run in the College World Series. MSU beat on the door of Omaha for the last couple of years. Finally, this year, the Bulldogs knocked that door down.
In 2016, MSU won the Southeastern Conference regular season championship and earned a national seed, but then was swept by Arizona in the super regional in Starkville.
It was LSU that disappointed the Bulldogs last year when the Tigers swept State down in Baton Rouge leaving State two wins shy of Omaha.
This year MSU wouldn't be denied. The Bulldogs defeated Vanderbilt two games to one in Nashville to advance. It was sweet relief for Mangum and his teammates after the frustrating super regional losses of the last two seasons.
“I don't think you can describe it – the feelings and emotions that kind of came over us after (winning at Vanderbilt),” Mississippi State pitcher Cole Gordon said. “We were so close (the last two years) and had the heartbreak. Teams would move on and seniors would leave. It's just special to be able to get (to Omaha) and experience it. We're going to soak it all in. We're still there to play, so we're going to keep our emotions in check, but we're really excited.”
Even through the jubilation of the moment, MSU insists its still going into the College World Series with work to do. The Bulldogs say they're not content just making it to Omaha.
MSU's first test on the big stage as the school looks to make the most of its opportunity is a talented Washington club that defeated Cal State Fullerton two games to one in its super regional.
The Bulldogs and Huskies, in many ways, enter the College World Series on similar ground. Neither were expected by many, if any, to even get to Omaha. Yet here they both are looking to keep surprising.
For either team to make an extended run, today's opener is vital as MSU and Washington each look to stay in the winner's bracket.
Washington will send Joe DeMers to the mound to try and stifle the Bulldogs. The junior right-hander boasts a 2.56 earned run average and has limited opponents to just a .212 batting average through his team-high 123 innings of work this season.
Meanwhile Mississippi State will turn to sophomore lefty Ethan Small. The southpaw Small emerged as MSU's most consistent pitcher in 2018. Small has given up more than three earned runs in a start only twice all season. He carries a 3.11 ERA into today's game and has struck out 112 batters in his 89.2 innings this year. Small would like to continue his strong season today and get the Bulldogs off and running in the College World Series.
It's a chance MSU is beyond thankful to have after the last two seasons ended just shy of Omaha, but again, the Bulldogs aren't ready to settle for just being involved. They want to win it all, and that journey now begins.
“We're five wins away from a national championship,” Mangum said. “We're not going to take that lightly. The school deserves its firstever national championship. We hope to get it done.”