At the end of last month, I didn't think there was any way I'd be writing a uniform recap for Mississippi State at the 2018 College World Series. Yet here we are.
After sweeping Florida to end the regular season, Mississippi State got fiery hot and fought through the elimination bracket of the Tallahassee Regional to advance to the program's third straight Super Regional, where they again had to play on the road. They then defeated Vanderbilt in extra innings of game 3 of the Super Regional to advance to the College World Series for the first time since 2013; like 2013, they won the first two games and had two games to beat Oregon State once and advance to the national championship series. Unfortunately, that's where the parallels end, as the Bulldogs finally ran out of gas and fell twice to the hot-hitting Beavers.
The Bulldogs played their first game in Omaha on the night of Saturday June 16th against the Washington Huskies, who were making their first ever College World Series appearance. As the "home" team, Mississippi State wore the White "State" Pinstripes, the same uniform design that was worn in the Bulldogs' first CWS appearance back in 1971. Since then, the Bulldogs have worn white pinstripes in two different Omaha trips (1998,2013); both of those pinstripes had the M over S logo on the left chest rather than the "State" script. The Bulldogs won a pitching duel with the Huskies, winning 1-0 on a walk-off hit from Luke Alexander in the bottom of the 9th. With the win, the Bulldogs now have a 2-4 record in White Pinstripes in Omaha.
Due to rain, State's winner's bracket matchup with North Carolina was moved to from Monday night to Tuesday morning; this didn't affect the Bulldogs, who took a 4-1 lead early on a grand slam by Jordan Westburg, and later expanded on that lead to coast to a 12-2 victory and get within one win of a national championship series berth. The Bulldogs were the "away" team for the matchup, and as a result wore the Gray Pinstripes. It was the first time that the Bulldogs had ever worn Gray Pinstripes in Omaha; they had previously worn gray (1990,1997) and pinstripes (1971,2013,2013), but not gray pins. With the win over North Carolina, the Bulldogs are now 1-0 in Gray Pinstripes, 2-2 in gray-based uniforms, and 3-4 in pinstripes in Omaha.
On Friday, the Bulldogs did as they have every single Friday all season and wore Maroon 85 over White. It was the first time that the Maroon 85 pullover design had been worn in Omaha since... 1985, when they were worn in a win over Arkansas. They were previously worn in the 1979 and 1981 trips; the 2013 team of course had the button-up Maroon 85s that they wore twice in Omaha, in a win over Indiana and a loss to UCLA. The Friday game was also the first time since the opening game of 2013 that the Bulldogs had worn maroon jerseys with plain white pants in Omaha; in that game they wore the Maroon MS over White combo in a 5-4 win over the Beavers. Unfortunately, that was not the case on Friday, as the Beavers soared to a 12-2 win over the Bulldogs. After the loss, the Bulldogs now have a 7-9 record in Omaha in maroon jerseys, 4-6 in jerseys with the maroon 85 design, and 3-5 in maroon 85 v-neck pullovers.
On the night of Saturday June 23rd, the Bulldogs squared off with Oregon State once more in a "winner-take-all" game to advance to the national championship series. Just as they have in many "deciding games" this season, the Bulldogs took the opportunity to wear their "nickelback" Black 85 over Black uniform combo. It was the first time in 10 appearances that the Bulldogs had ever worn black, which as you may recall is not a school color, in the College World Series. The Bulldogs came into the game with an 8-2 record in the combination, tied for the best among State's uniforms. Unfortunately it left the game with an 8-3 record, as the Beavers' 5 runs, all scored with two outs in the top of the third inning, proved to be enough to end the Bulldogs' season.
The four different jerseys worn in Omaha is a school record, and the 4 combinations worn match the record of 4 combinations worn in the 2013 appearance. Wearing 4 different base jersey colors (White, Gray, Maroon, Black) was a very new thing for Mississippi State in Omaha; they had previously never worn more than 2 (White/Maroon in 85,98,07,13; White/Gray in 90; Gray/Maroon in 97). Overall, it was the most diverse set of uniforms that State has ever taken the field in at Omaha. Replace the Black 85s with the White 85s, and it would also be the best.
The 2018 Season Recap will be posted later this week. In the meantime, below are a couple of graphics that be found at the Baseball Postseason Uni History Page. The first documents the Bulldogs' incredible 2018 postseason run; the second documents all 10 of the Bulldogs' College World Series appearances.
After sweeping Florida to end the regular season, Mississippi State got fiery hot and fought through the elimination bracket of the Tallahassee Regional to advance to the program's third straight Super Regional, where they again had to play on the road. They then defeated Vanderbilt in extra innings of game 3 of the Super Regional to advance to the College World Series for the first time since 2013; like 2013, they won the first two games and had two games to beat Oregon State once and advance to the national championship series. Unfortunately, that's where the parallels end, as the Bulldogs finally ran out of gas and fell twice to the hot-hitting Beavers.
The Bulldogs played their first game in Omaha on the night of Saturday June 16th against the Washington Huskies, who were making their first ever College World Series appearance. As the "home" team, Mississippi State wore the White "State" Pinstripes, the same uniform design that was worn in the Bulldogs' first CWS appearance back in 1971. Since then, the Bulldogs have worn white pinstripes in two different Omaha trips (1998,2013); both of those pinstripes had the M over S logo on the left chest rather than the "State" script. The Bulldogs won a pitching duel with the Huskies, winning 1-0 on a walk-off hit from Luke Alexander in the bottom of the 9th. With the win, the Bulldogs now have a 2-4 record in White Pinstripes in Omaha.
Due to rain, State's winner's bracket matchup with North Carolina was moved to from Monday night to Tuesday morning; this didn't affect the Bulldogs, who took a 4-1 lead early on a grand slam by Jordan Westburg, and later expanded on that lead to coast to a 12-2 victory and get within one win of a national championship series berth. The Bulldogs were the "away" team for the matchup, and as a result wore the Gray Pinstripes. It was the first time that the Bulldogs had ever worn Gray Pinstripes in Omaha; they had previously worn gray (1990,1997) and pinstripes (1971,2013,2013), but not gray pins. With the win over North Carolina, the Bulldogs are now 1-0 in Gray Pinstripes, 2-2 in gray-based uniforms, and 3-4 in pinstripes in Omaha.
On Friday, the Bulldogs did as they have every single Friday all season and wore Maroon 85 over White. It was the first time that the Maroon 85 pullover design had been worn in Omaha since... 1985, when they were worn in a win over Arkansas. They were previously worn in the 1979 and 1981 trips; the 2013 team of course had the button-up Maroon 85s that they wore twice in Omaha, in a win over Indiana and a loss to UCLA. The Friday game was also the first time since the opening game of 2013 that the Bulldogs had worn maroon jerseys with plain white pants in Omaha; in that game they wore the Maroon MS over White combo in a 5-4 win over the Beavers. Unfortunately, that was not the case on Friday, as the Beavers soared to a 12-2 win over the Bulldogs. After the loss, the Bulldogs now have a 7-9 record in Omaha in maroon jerseys, 4-6 in jerseys with the maroon 85 design, and 3-5 in maroon 85 v-neck pullovers.
On the night of Saturday June 23rd, the Bulldogs squared off with Oregon State once more in a "winner-take-all" game to advance to the national championship series. Just as they have in many "deciding games" this season, the Bulldogs took the opportunity to wear their "nickelback" Black 85 over Black uniform combo. It was the first time in 10 appearances that the Bulldogs had ever worn black, which as you may recall is not a school color, in the College World Series. The Bulldogs came into the game with an 8-2 record in the combination, tied for the best among State's uniforms. Unfortunately it left the game with an 8-3 record, as the Beavers' 5 runs, all scored with two outs in the top of the third inning, proved to be enough to end the Bulldogs' season.
The four different jerseys worn in Omaha is a school record, and the 4 combinations worn match the record of 4 combinations worn in the 2013 appearance. Wearing 4 different base jersey colors (White, Gray, Maroon, Black) was a very new thing for Mississippi State in Omaha; they had previously never worn more than 2 (White/Maroon in 85,98,07,13; White/Gray in 90; Gray/Maroon in 97). Overall, it was the most diverse set of uniforms that State has ever taken the field in at Omaha. Replace the Black 85s with the White 85s, and it would also be the best.
The 2018 Season Recap will be posted later this week. In the meantime, below are a couple of graphics that be found at the Baseball Postseason Uni History Page. The first documents the Bulldogs' incredible 2018 postseason run; the second documents all 10 of the Bulldogs' College World Series appearances.
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Uniform Models for the 2018 College World Series:
Saturday vs Washington- White "State" Pinstripes- #7 Luke Alexander
Tuesday vs North Carolina- Gray Pinstripes- #11 Jordan Westburg
Friday vs Oregon State- Maroon 85 over White- #13 Hunter Stovall
Saturday vs Oregon State- Black 85 over Black- #24 Cole Gordon
Saturday vs Washington- White "State" Pinstripes- #7 Luke Alexander
Tuesday vs North Carolina- Gray Pinstripes- #11 Jordan Westburg
Friday vs Oregon State- Maroon 85 over White- #13 Hunter Stovall
Saturday vs Oregon State- Black 85 over Black- #24 Cole Gordon
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