Opportunities available for State in series at No. 11 Vanderbilt
Just over the halfway point of the SEC schedule, Mississippi State is still battling on the baseball diamond.
The Diamond Dawgs certainly where they want to be, but it’s a program that finds itself in a complicated predicament. Chris Lemonis led State to its first team National Championship in school history in 2021 but they’ve been in a hole each of the last two seasons.
Finishing games the next step for State
After finishing 9-21 in SEC play two years in a row, the Bulldogs are climbing out of that hole. State (27-14, 10-8) has already won more SEC games than the Bulldogs did the last two years and he’s equaled his total wins from last season. Still, he is not satisfied with the results.
The Bulldogs have essentially had six conference losses that could have easily gone their way. On the year, MSU is 4-9 in one-run games and have lost five SEC games by one run. It’s why the coach put the pressure on his team last weekend to finish off the Auburn Tigers with a sweep.
“This mentality sometimes with kids where it’s like ‘oh we got the weekend.’ No, we’re trying to get every game,” Lemonis said. “We’re still fighting to gain some back. It’s not ok. Once we won the first game, it’s not ok (to just win the series). It’s never about a weekend or getting two out of three, it’s just the next game and that’s how we’re trying to play it.”
Last weekend was a nice step forward for State. Though the Tigers sit at the bottom of the standings, they’ve been competitive and MSU has struggled in close games.
In two of the three wins, State had to either hold on to a late lead or come from behind late in the ball game to sweep for the first time since 2021.
It was long overdue but it was something that the players felt could be a turning point for a team that is trying to get back into postseason play this year.
“It just shows the trust that we have in each other. We keep going every weekend and get better and better. It’s going to be a fun ride going forward now,” outfielder Connor Hujsak said. “Anytime you can sweep it’s big time. We’ve had opportunities in the past and couldn’t capitalize. Finally getting one of them feels really good.”
Weekend in Nashville represents big opportunity
Now, another challenge awaits the Bulldogs.
State travels up to Nashville this weekend to take on No. 11 Vanderbilt (29-11, 10-8 SEC) as the heated rivalry is renewed. To win at Vandy, State will have to bring the offense to life and continue to get some strong starts from its pitching.
Khal Stephen enters Friday night having thrown five-straight outings of 6.0 or more innings and two runs or less surrendered. Jurrangelo Citjnje returned to form last Sunday with a strong outing himself and Tyson Hardin might have locked down the closer role for State after another solid performance against Auburn.
It’s a pivotal weekend like all of them have been for State so far. Lemonis likes the makeup of his team to continue to respond.
“They’re tough. Our journey has not been easy,” Lemonis said of the team. “Sometimes when you go through that and watch teams grow, I’m hoping today helps us grow again. We’ve got a good group that can do some special things. We’re kind of waiting on a couple of guys to join the party. If they start playing a little bit better, we can be a team to reckon with.”
The series starts on Friday night in Nashville at 6 p.m. with Saturday’s game set for 2 p.m. and Sunday’s finale at 1 p.m. All games can be seen on the Watch ESPN app.
