After having to wait an extra day due to the weather on Tuesday, the Mississippi State Bulldogs would start their postseason on a picture-perfect morning at the Hoover Met as the Bulldogs faced the Aggies of Texas A&M as the final game of the opening round of the 2025 SEC Tournament.

Coach Justin Parker decided to start Ryan McPherson on Wednesday against the Aggies. After a disastrous second inning where Ryan McPherson and the Mississippi State defense gave up six runs on five hits, including a grand slam to deep right field, McPherson’s day would be over, and Ben Davis would be the new Bulldog pitcher. McPherson’s final stat line left less to be desired, as he got no help from the defense with an error and his arm.

Texas A&M jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the top half of the second inning, capped off by a grand slam off the bat of Jace LaViolette. Texas A&M would add two more in the top half of the third to make it 8-0 Aggies. Texas A&M would plate another run in the 7th inning to make it 9-0 Aggies.

Mississippi State could never recover, as the Bulldogs’ stay in Hoover ended prematurely, and they failed to overcome the deep hole dug in the second inning. Looking back on the game, there’ll be a lot of finger-pointing and the breakdown of every play. However, the defense failed early with an error, which caused the pitching to collapse early, sending Mississippi State back to Starkville winless in the 2025 Southeastern Conference Tournament. Credit to Texas A&M, the Aggies took advantage of the Mississippi State mishaps and created a hole too deep to overcome. The Aggies took the pro-Mississippi State crowd out of it and fed off the silence of the Bulldog Nation.

Mississippi State will now await their postseason destination and will likely be sent somewhere outside of the southeast, taking away an easier travel destination for Mississippi State fans. Mississippi State will find out where they’re heading on Monday at noon.