MSU set to play Oklahoma in regional
Published 11:09 pm Thursday, May 31, 2018
STARKVILLE — For the 37th time in program history, Mississippi State is headed to the NCAA Tournament and will begin its postseason run in the Tallahassee Regional, the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee announced Monday.
This marks the second time State reached the NCAA Tournament after starting the season 0-3, with the 1996 Diamond Dawgs having first accomplished the feat at 38-24, 17-13 SEC.
Two-seed MSU (31-25) will be joined in the four-team regional by host Florida State (43-17), three-seed Oklahoma (36-23) and four-seed and Southern Conference Tournament Champion Samford (36-24).
State will kick off its Tallahassee Regional schedule at Dick Howser Stadium on Friday at 11 a.m. on ESPNU against Oklahoma in the double-elimination regional format. Friday’s meeting between the Bulldogs and Sooners will be the fifth all-time meeting between the two sides, with the most recent matchup having been a 5-5 tie at Dodger Stadium on March 6, 2016 due to a travel curfew. MSU trails the all-time series 1-2-1.
MSU has not faced off against Florida State since the 2007 Tallahassee Regional which the Diamond Dawgs went 3-0 in and included two wins over the Seminoles. MSU also appeared in the 2012 Tallahassee Regional, but finished 1-2 and didn’t face the host. State hasn’t taken on Samford since 2015 and holds a 34-10 advantage in the all-time series.
The winner of the Tallahassee Regional will take on the winner of the Clemson Regional for a best-of-three Super Regional series with a trip to the College World Series at stake.