If you thought that it couldn't get any crazier than last year's regional, think again. Let's go in chronological order.
The 2018 Tallahassee Regional began on Friday with an offensive-heavy bomb fest as the Bulldogs dropped a 10-20 contest in the Maroon 85 over White combo, blowing a 10-7 lead at one point. Things didn't look good, until an opportunity arose on Friday night, with Florida State dropping its opening round contest to Samford. This meant that Mississippi State only had to beat the National Seed Seminoles once, and with their best pitchers still available.
On Saturday Morning, State wore white pinstripes in the postseason for the first time since the 2013 National Championship Series. The Bulldogs came into the game with a 5-0 record in white pinstripes in regional games (so excluding supers and Omaha) this century. They left the game 6-0. After being shutout through the first eight innings, a two and a half hour rain delay provided a fresh perspective for the Bulldogs. Florida State made the poor decision to stay with their pitcher, who had pitched over 100 pitches, after the long delay, and State made them pay. Two walks and two outs led to a situation of Elijah MacNamee being both the potential winning run and losing out. MacNamee chose winning, smashing a 3-run walk-off home run over the left field fence with two strikes on him to eliminate the Seminoles, give the Bulldogs a 10-1 record against National Seeds, and most importantly, keep the season alive. It was an iconic moment in Mississippi State baseball history- and the white "State" pinstripes were the perfect uniform for that moment.
On Sunday Morning, the Bulldogs were the away team for the first time in the regional, and as a result wore the gray pinstripes in the elimination game vs Samford. It was the third time gray pinstripes had been worn in a regional game this century- previous times were when the gray pinstripe vests were worn in a 2004 loss to Texas Tech and when the current gray pins were worn in a win over Cal State Fullerton in Starkville in 2016. State defeated Samford 9-8 in that game, picking up its second win in pinstripes in as many days.
Sunday Evening against Oklahoma, history was made. Mississippi State baseball wore black uniforms in an NCAA Tournament game for the first time ever. Before now, we'd always had the good sense to stick to school colors in tournament games. But man, if we don't win in these things. After Sunday's 13-5 shellacking of Oklahoma, State is now 7-2 in the Black 85 over Black combo this season. That's the same great record that we have in the white pins. The Oklahoma game on Sunday was played at nighttime for the most part, which fit the theme of all black much better than the usual Sunday afternoon SEC games were they really look out of place. So all in all, while they still shouldn't do it, all black wasn't that bad this time around.
It all came down to Monday Afternoon. The winner-take-all regional championship. Oklahoma vs. Mississippi State. Bulldogs back in the gray pins. Oklahoma got the early 1-0 lead, but Mississippi State quickly jumped ahead and never looked back, taking a 4-1 lead into the 9th and getting 4 insurance runs to push the lead out to 8-1. JP France dealt, allowing 1 run in 7 innings of work, while Riley Self got the save by pitching the last two innings. With the win, Mississippi State became the first team ever to win back-to-back regionals after losing the first game in both of them. Overall, it was the third straight regional championship for the Bulldogs, who will play Vanderbilt in a Super Regional next weekend.
The regional championship was the first this century in gray pins, which went 2-0 this weekend as the only repeat combo. The Bulldogs' four different combinations in the regional are tied for the most worn by a Mississippi State team this century with the 2013 Starkville Regional , and the four different jerseys are the most worn by the Bulldogs in a regional this century. It was a stark contrast from last year's Hattiesburg Regional, where State wore only two uniforms over five games (maroon MS in the first two, inverted white 85s in the last three).
Click Here for more Mississippi State Baseball Postseason Uniform History
The 2018 Tallahassee Regional began on Friday with an offensive-heavy bomb fest as the Bulldogs dropped a 10-20 contest in the Maroon 85 over White combo, blowing a 10-7 lead at one point. Things didn't look good, until an opportunity arose on Friday night, with Florida State dropping its opening round contest to Samford. This meant that Mississippi State only had to beat the National Seed Seminoles once, and with their best pitchers still available.
On Saturday Morning, State wore white pinstripes in the postseason for the first time since the 2013 National Championship Series. The Bulldogs came into the game with a 5-0 record in white pinstripes in regional games (so excluding supers and Omaha) this century. They left the game 6-0. After being shutout through the first eight innings, a two and a half hour rain delay provided a fresh perspective for the Bulldogs. Florida State made the poor decision to stay with their pitcher, who had pitched over 100 pitches, after the long delay, and State made them pay. Two walks and two outs led to a situation of Elijah MacNamee being both the potential winning run and losing out. MacNamee chose winning, smashing a 3-run walk-off home run over the left field fence with two strikes on him to eliminate the Seminoles, give the Bulldogs a 10-1 record against National Seeds, and most importantly, keep the season alive. It was an iconic moment in Mississippi State baseball history- and the white "State" pinstripes were the perfect uniform for that moment.
On Sunday Morning, the Bulldogs were the away team for the first time in the regional, and as a result wore the gray pinstripes in the elimination game vs Samford. It was the third time gray pinstripes had been worn in a regional game this century- previous times were when the gray pinstripe vests were worn in a 2004 loss to Texas Tech and when the current gray pins were worn in a win over Cal State Fullerton in Starkville in 2016. State defeated Samford 9-8 in that game, picking up its second win in pinstripes in as many days.
Sunday Evening against Oklahoma, history was made. Mississippi State baseball wore black uniforms in an NCAA Tournament game for the first time ever. Before now, we'd always had the good sense to stick to school colors in tournament games. But man, if we don't win in these things. After Sunday's 13-5 shellacking of Oklahoma, State is now 7-2 in the Black 85 over Black combo this season. That's the same great record that we have in the white pins. The Oklahoma game on Sunday was played at nighttime for the most part, which fit the theme of all black much better than the usual Sunday afternoon SEC games were they really look out of place. So all in all, while they still shouldn't do it, all black wasn't that bad this time around.
It all came down to Monday Afternoon. The winner-take-all regional championship. Oklahoma vs. Mississippi State. Bulldogs back in the gray pins. Oklahoma got the early 1-0 lead, but Mississippi State quickly jumped ahead and never looked back, taking a 4-1 lead into the 9th and getting 4 insurance runs to push the lead out to 8-1. JP France dealt, allowing 1 run in 7 innings of work, while Riley Self got the save by pitching the last two innings. With the win, Mississippi State became the first team ever to win back-to-back regionals after losing the first game in both of them. Overall, it was the third straight regional championship for the Bulldogs, who will play Vanderbilt in a Super Regional next weekend.
The regional championship was the first this century in gray pins, which went 2-0 this weekend as the only repeat combo. The Bulldogs' four different combinations in the regional are tied for the most worn by a Mississippi State team this century with the 2013 Starkville Regional , and the four different jerseys are the most worn by the Bulldogs in a regional this century. It was a stark contrast from last year's Hattiesburg Regional, where State wore only two uniforms over five games (maroon MS in the first two, inverted white 85s in the last three).
Click Here for more Mississippi State Baseball Postseason Uniform History
Uniform Models for the 2018 Tallahassee Regional:
Friday vs Oklahoma- Maroon 85 over White- #8 Dustin Skelton
Saturday vs Florida State- White "State" Pinstripes- #40 Elijah MacNamee
Sunday vs Samford- Gray Pinstripes- #5 Tanner Allen
Sunday vs Oklahoma- Black 85 over Black- #15 Jake Mangum
Monday vs Oklahoma- Gray Pinstripes- #28 JP France
Friday vs Oklahoma- Maroon 85 over White- #8 Dustin Skelton
Saturday vs Florida State- White "State" Pinstripes- #40 Elijah MacNamee
Sunday vs Samford- Gray Pinstripes- #5 Tanner Allen
Sunday vs Oklahoma- Black 85 over Black- #15 Jake Mangum
Monday vs Oklahoma- Gray Pinstripes- #28 JP France