For the first time since 2012, Mississippi State lost the first game of its regional. But for the first time since 1979, the Bulldogs won 4 straight to win the regional despite losing the first game. I was able to attend all five games; it was an incredible experience to come from behind and advance to our second straight super regional.
In game one on Friday, the Bulldogs lost to 3 seed South Alabama while wearing Maroon MS over White. Saturday's games were rained out, so the Bulldogs ended up playing the 4 seed UIC on Sunday Morning at 10 A.M. Wearing Maroon MS over White for the sixth straight game, the Bulldogs narrowly eliminated the Flames and survived to play another game.
In the Sunday night rematch vs South Alabama, the Bulldogs were the designated visiting team and batted first. Oddly, everything else about the game was backwards. South Alabama had been in the first base dugout in their preceding game against Southern Miss and elected not to switch dugouts. The Jaguars were wearing their red jerseys with white pants; in an attempt to switch things up, the Bulldogs had switched to the inverted White 85 jerseys. The result was that the Bulldogs were in the "home" third base dugout and were wearing "home" white jerseys despite being the "away" home. The Bulldogs won the game 7-3, and advanced to play Southern Miss on Monday.
More rain delays pushed the Monday game back to Monday night; the Bulldogs had to beat the Golden Eagles twice before Wednesday to advance, and the rain was making a hard task even harder. Nonetheless, the two teams took the field at 5:45 Monday night, the Bulldogs back in the inverted White 85s as the "home" team in game 1. Jacob Billingsey and the Bulldogs dominated game 1, winning 8-1 to force a winner-take-all final. The Bulldogs were the "away" team for the final game, but stuck with the thus-far successful inverted White 85s. Nearly an hour after midnight, the Bulldogs clinched the regional championship with an 8-6 victory.
The Hattiesburg Regional continued last season's tradition of winning championships in the inverted White 85 jerseys. They debuted in a Governor's Cup victory; they were later worn in the 2016 SEC Regular Season Title clinching victory over Arkansas and the 2016 Starkville Regional Championship over Louisiana Tech.
The Bulldogs will head to Baton Rouge this weekend for their second consecutive Super Regional. It will be a Sat-Sun-Mon series, with games 1 and 2 scheduled for 8 P.M. central on Saturday and Sunday night respectively.
Uniform Models for the Hattiesburg Regional:
Friday vs 3. South Alabama- Maroon MS over White- #26 Cody Brown
Sunday vs 4. Illinois Chicago- Maroon MS over White- #48 Konnor Pilkington
Sunday vs 3. South Alabama- White 85- #2 Hunter Stovall
Monday vs 1. Southern Miss- White 85- #45 Jacob Billingsley
Monday vs 1. Southern Miss- White 85- #19 Brent Rooker
In game one on Friday, the Bulldogs lost to 3 seed South Alabama while wearing Maroon MS over White. Saturday's games were rained out, so the Bulldogs ended up playing the 4 seed UIC on Sunday Morning at 10 A.M. Wearing Maroon MS over White for the sixth straight game, the Bulldogs narrowly eliminated the Flames and survived to play another game.
In the Sunday night rematch vs South Alabama, the Bulldogs were the designated visiting team and batted first. Oddly, everything else about the game was backwards. South Alabama had been in the first base dugout in their preceding game against Southern Miss and elected not to switch dugouts. The Jaguars were wearing their red jerseys with white pants; in an attempt to switch things up, the Bulldogs had switched to the inverted White 85 jerseys. The result was that the Bulldogs were in the "home" third base dugout and were wearing "home" white jerseys despite being the "away" home. The Bulldogs won the game 7-3, and advanced to play Southern Miss on Monday.
More rain delays pushed the Monday game back to Monday night; the Bulldogs had to beat the Golden Eagles twice before Wednesday to advance, and the rain was making a hard task even harder. Nonetheless, the two teams took the field at 5:45 Monday night, the Bulldogs back in the inverted White 85s as the "home" team in game 1. Jacob Billingsey and the Bulldogs dominated game 1, winning 8-1 to force a winner-take-all final. The Bulldogs were the "away" team for the final game, but stuck with the thus-far successful inverted White 85s. Nearly an hour after midnight, the Bulldogs clinched the regional championship with an 8-6 victory.
The Hattiesburg Regional continued last season's tradition of winning championships in the inverted White 85 jerseys. They debuted in a Governor's Cup victory; they were later worn in the 2016 SEC Regular Season Title clinching victory over Arkansas and the 2016 Starkville Regional Championship over Louisiana Tech.
The Bulldogs will head to Baton Rouge this weekend for their second consecutive Super Regional. It will be a Sat-Sun-Mon series, with games 1 and 2 scheduled for 8 P.M. central on Saturday and Sunday night respectively.
Uniform Models for the Hattiesburg Regional:
Friday vs 3. South Alabama- Maroon MS over White- #26 Cody Brown
Sunday vs 4. Illinois Chicago- Maroon MS over White- #48 Konnor Pilkington
Sunday vs 3. South Alabama- White 85- #2 Hunter Stovall
Monday vs 1. Southern Miss- White 85- #45 Jacob Billingsley
Monday vs 1. Southern Miss- White 85- #19 Brent Rooker