Hosting fate could be on the line for No. 16 Diamond Dawgs in regular season finale vs. Missouri
Two years in the wilderness has come to an end for Mississippi State as the No. 16 Diamond Dawgs are finally playing meaningful baseball again late in the season.
With a top 20 ranking and an NCAA Tournament berth already locked in, State is now working to solidify a hosting spot at Dudy Noble Field for the first time since 2021. To get there, final weekend success at home against Missouri is a must.
The Bulldogs (34-18, 15-12 SEC) enter as the No. 6 team in the SEC standings while Missouri (22-30, 8-19 SEC) will need a sweep just to make it to Hoover and the SEC Tournament. Despite the struggles of the Tiger team this season and eight series losses in nine tries, coach Chris Lemonis cautions the dangers of overlooking teams in this league.
“Everybody in this league is good, and they’re still playing for a lot. You’re doing everything that you can to try to stay motivated,” Lemonis said. “Like I’ve told them all week, I don’t care about scenarios or the tournament – all we can control is between the two lines. Our goal is to come out and play really good baseball against Missouri.”
MSU needs nothing more than to look back at the last two series with the Tigers to know just how dangerous the program can be to the Bulldogs. In 2021, State closed the regular season by losing two out of three to Missouri before making a run to a National Championship. The Bulldogs lost the series again the next season on the road in Columbia.
This State team has stubbed its toe plenty of times this season also with eight games now in SEC play lost by three runs or less. Six of those losses have seen the Bulldogs hold a lead in the seventh inning or later only to lose the game.
Players like catcher Joe Powell are setting out to put that to bed and close strong. After all but giving up baseball last year, Powell has a breath of life in his career this season and is making the most of it. He hadn’t hit a home run all season until Sunday vs. Arkansas and three home runs on Tuesday night against North Alabama have given him four long balls in the last two games.
He’s ready for the challenge of the weekend and another opportunity.
“Just keep doing what we’ve been doing. We’re a really good team,” Powell said. “We played a really good weekend this past weekend in Arkansas. It didn’t go the way we wanted, but we showed that we’re one of the top teams in the country and we’ve been showing that all year.
“All we can do is go out there and play and the rest take care of itself. Now we go on to Missouri.”
MSU enters the three-game set on Thursday night with a rejuvenated pitching staff. Khal Stephen (7-3, 3.16) has been one of the SEC’s best on Friday nights and Jurrangelo Cijntje (7-1, 3.57) has been equally impressive behind him. Pico Kohn (1-0, 3.38) has added his left-handed talent into the mix after recovering from Tommy John surgery and looks to be moving into the third man role in the rotation.
Also back is former Friday night starter Nate Dohm (3-0, 1.37). After missing almost all of SEC play, Dohm was back on the mound starting Tuesday night against North Alabama and the talented right hander retired all six batters he saw with two strikeouts.
The group of pitchers coupled with a more consistent offensive lineup could spell a deep run if the Bulldogs can put it all together. They’ll work to do it starting Thursday night.
“We don’t talk about the other teams too much. It’s just about us,” Lemonis said. “It’s about Khal having a good start, us playing really great defense, it’s about us putting runs together. They’ve had some really good weekends. They’ve gone toe-to-toe with some teams all year long and can play really good baseball.”
State and Missouri will throw first pitch on Thursday at 6 p.m. with a Friday game time also set for 6. Saturday’s finale is at 2 p.m.
