Nothing new this year, but the weather has come into play again for Mississippi State baseball.
Jacob Bain
It seems that weather has been a thorn in the side for Mississippi State baseball all year long, and after all, it is spring in the South. Once again, due to impending weather, there has been a schedule change for the Bulldogs against their rival, Ole Miss, as there will be a doubleheader today at Dudy Noble Field, starting at 4 p.m., with game two starting 40 minutes after the conclusion of game one. There will be no Saturday game, but the series finale will be on Mother's Day, Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.
Last week was an interesting one for the Mississippi State baseball program as head coach Chris Lemonis was relieved of his duties, and pitching coach Justin Parker was promoted to head coach. Mississippi State fans remember the last time a manager was let go during the season, and it was 2018, and that group of Diamond Dawgs went on the road for a regional and a super regional and battled through and made it to
Omaha falling one game short of playing for a national title.
That was an incredible run, perhaps once in a lifetime, but naturally, that year gets brought up. The Diamond Dawgs had a great week last week, starting with a dismantling of Memphis before getting a series sweep over Kentucky, which was the first SEC sweep of the year. The sweep put the Bulldogs at 10-14 in the league, which is an excellent mark and puts them in a great position to make an NCAA Regional.
Students on the campus of Mississippi State are preparing for final exams, so there was no midweek action for the Diamond Dawgs, which is huge at this time of year because a baseball season can be a grind. However, with the Ole Miss Rebels in town, everyone will perk up because of the rivlary. Also, the Rebels walked off State earlier this year in Pearl to take home the Governors' Cup. That surely will light a fire under this team, but recent history is on the Bulldogs' side because State has lost only a series to the Rebels since 2016, which came last year in Oxford. Still, Ole Miss has not taken a series at The Dude since 2014.
Also, the maroon and white faithful made history last Ole Miss was in town as over 16,000 fans packed into Polk-Dement Stadium for the middle game against the Rebels, a game State won thanks to a walk-off single from Dakota Jordan. Pico Kohn is set to get the ball in game one, which is normal for him, albeit with an earlier start time, but Evan Siary will move up a day in the rotation, which is always something to monitor. Again, today's action will be a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. CT; game two will start 40 minutes after game one is over, and the series finale will be on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.
