For the first time since winning the National Championship in 2021, the Mississippi State Bulldogs are back in the postseason. They head deep into ACC Country to take on the Charlottesville Regional, starting with a first-round game against St. John’s on Friday night. Coming into the Regional, the Bulldogs feel as if the entire world is against them as the NCAA Selection committee decided the Bulldogs were not worthy of hosting an NCAA Tournament Regional at Dudy Noble despite having one of the best resumes outside of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas A&M. The Bulldogs feel as if they have something to prove and are approaching the NCAA Tournament with an attitude of it’s Mississippi State vs. the world.

Mississippi State won two games in Hoover at the 2024 SEC Tournament, giving the Bulldogs an unreal amount of excitement heading into the NCAA Tournament. Enough enthusiasm to get the Bulldogs the national attention of being an overwhelming sleeper team to reach the 2024 College World Series, potentially bringing another National Championship to Starkville, Mississippi. In Charlottesville with the Bulldogs is the first-round game against St. John’s, with Virginia or Penn waiting in the shadows for the Bulldogs on Saturday.

If the Bulldogs were to get out of the Regional, they would likely head west to Baum Walker Stadium next weekend to take on the Razorbacks of Arkansas in the Super Regional. An Arkansas team that two of three against Mississippi State a little over a month ago. Although not easy, there’s certainly a path for the Mississippi State Bulldogs to go on a run over the next two weeks to make things interesting as they try to return to the College World Series for the 13th time in school history, the first since 2021.

For Mississippi State to succeed this postseason, they will need Dakota Jordan and Hunters Hines to do something with their bats. Hines and Jordan combined for one hit in Hoover, leaving a lot on the field as Mississippi State fell short of reaching Saturday of the 2024 SEC Tournament. For the Bulldogs to have success, it starts and ends with those two guys; the pitching will come, and so will the other offensive numbers, but when Jordan and Hines are hot, Mississippi State is a baseball team that can compete with anybody in the country including winning a National Championship.

From a pitching perspective, Mississippi State will likely turn to a combination of Khal Stephen, Brooks Auger, Pico Kohn, and Jurrangelo Cijntje as the main postseason starters. Brooks Auger was named to the 2024 all-SEC Tournament team after his dominating performance against Ole Miss on Tuesday night. With any combination of those starters and an efficient bullpen led by Gavin Black, Tyson Hardin, and maybe even Nate Dohm, the Bulldogs have enough arms to win a Regional before shifting to a Super Regional and beyond.

Mississippi State will play the second game on Friday as the Bulldogs have a first pitch at 6:00.