After being swept at home by Arkansas, Mississippi State needed a boost to get things back on track. That's exactly what they got this weekend, as they swept Kentucky in a Thursday-Saturday Easter Weekend series, getting back above .500 in SEC play and gaining some much needed positive momentum.
Tuesday's scheduled game with Mississippi Valley State was postponed due to weather, so it was just a three-game week for the Bulldogs, with the Kentucky series getting all of the focus. This was Mississippi State's first Thursday-Saturday weekend series of the season, which meant a break from the usual weekend uniform rotation. I was excited to see what they would do with the shifted schedule, and I was not disappointed with the result.
In the series opener on Thursday, the Bulldogs broke out the white 85 jerseys for the first time against an SEC opponent this season. Previously relegated to midweek games, the white 85s are one of State's best looks, so it was great to see them worn on a bigger stage, and especially in a win. After the 8-1 victory in the series opener, the white 85s extended their perfect record to 4-0 on the season.
On Friday, State stuck with its usual Friday night look, the maroon 85 jerseys and white pants. With Friday's series clinching 3-2 win, the maroon 85 jerseys improved to 5-2 on the season and 4-2 when paired with white pants.
Saturday was probably the biggest uniform-related surprise of the weekend, as the Bulldogs ditched their usual home Saturday look, the cream script "State" uniforms, in favor of the white M over S pinstripes. Just like the white 85s, the white pinstripes had been relegated to midweek games this season and held a perfect record coming into the game. That perfect record held on, improving to 4-0 on the season as State won by a score of 4-3 to complete the sweep. The Bulldogs are now 8-0 in white jerseys in 2021, with 4 wins in the white 85s and 4 wins in the white pinstripes.
Tuesday's scheduled game with Mississippi Valley State was postponed due to weather, so it was just a three-game week for the Bulldogs, with the Kentucky series getting all of the focus. This was Mississippi State's first Thursday-Saturday weekend series of the season, which meant a break from the usual weekend uniform rotation. I was excited to see what they would do with the shifted schedule, and I was not disappointed with the result.
In the series opener on Thursday, the Bulldogs broke out the white 85 jerseys for the first time against an SEC opponent this season. Previously relegated to midweek games, the white 85s are one of State's best looks, so it was great to see them worn on a bigger stage, and especially in a win. After the 8-1 victory in the series opener, the white 85s extended their perfect record to 4-0 on the season.
On Friday, State stuck with its usual Friday night look, the maroon 85 jerseys and white pants. With Friday's series clinching 3-2 win, the maroon 85 jerseys improved to 5-2 on the season and 4-2 when paired with white pants.
Saturday was probably the biggest uniform-related surprise of the weekend, as the Bulldogs ditched their usual home Saturday look, the cream script "State" uniforms, in favor of the white M over S pinstripes. Just like the white 85s, the white pinstripes had been relegated to midweek games this season and held a perfect record coming into the game. That perfect record held on, improving to 4-0 on the season as State won by a score of 4-3 to complete the sweep. The Bulldogs are now 8-0 in white jerseys in 2021, with 4 wins in the white 85s and 4 wins in the white pinstripes.
This was an interesting uniform weekend for State, and a very good one. Thursday night felt like a call back to the 2016-2018 era where Maroon Friday was at its peak, and State wore maroon jerseys in nearly every single Friday game. That changed in 2019, when the maroon 85 jerseys became the Ethan Small is pitching jerseys instead of the Friday Night ones. This year, however, ace Christian MacLeod seemed to have no problem pitching in the white 85s. In fact, he arguably had his best outing of the year in them. This weekend was the first time since the 2018 series against Florida that State had worn non-maroon jerseys in game 1 of an SEC series; they actually now have a 5 game winning streak when wearing white in game 1 of an SEC series, dating back to 2016.
Wearing white pinstripes in the Saturday game against Kentucky brought back memories of Super Bulldog Weekend 2017, when Brent Rooker (who was actually just called up to the Minnesota Twins) hit 3 HRs, including a grand slam, as the Bulldogs knocked off the Wildcats in the Saturday game.
Another thing that felt like a throwback to 2017? Pulling off the sweep without wearing black uniforms. This weekend was the first time that State has swept an SEC Series without wearing black since the 2017 Alabama series, which famously ended around 2 am on Saturday morning. I mentioned in last week's recap that this was great timing for a Thurs-Sat series; the all-black look is on a 2-game losing streak for the first time ever, so this was the perfect time to give it a weekend off, and obviously things worked out great. I definitely expect them to return next Sunday, but us playing well in the white 85s and pinstripes against SEC competition was very nice to see.
Overall, this was about as good of a weekend uniform rotation as you'll see, not just for Mississippi State, but in college baseball. The white 85s, maroon 85s, and white M over S pinstripes are, in my opinion, State's three best looks, and are all unquestionably elite college baseball uniforms. To see them all worn on the same weekend was fantastic, and for State to get to sweep in them as well? You just can't beat that.
Wearing white pinstripes in the Saturday game against Kentucky brought back memories of Super Bulldog Weekend 2017, when Brent Rooker (who was actually just called up to the Minnesota Twins) hit 3 HRs, including a grand slam, as the Bulldogs knocked off the Wildcats in the Saturday game.
Another thing that felt like a throwback to 2017? Pulling off the sweep without wearing black uniforms. This weekend was the first time that State has swept an SEC Series without wearing black since the 2017 Alabama series, which famously ended around 2 am on Saturday morning. I mentioned in last week's recap that this was great timing for a Thurs-Sat series; the all-black look is on a 2-game losing streak for the first time ever, so this was the perfect time to give it a weekend off, and obviously things worked out great. I definitely expect them to return next Sunday, but us playing well in the white 85s and pinstripes against SEC competition was very nice to see.
Overall, this was about as good of a weekend uniform rotation as you'll see, not just for Mississippi State, but in college baseball. The white 85s, maroon 85s, and white M over S pinstripes are, in my opinion, State's three best looks, and are all unquestionably elite college baseball uniforms. To see them all worn on the same weekend was fantastic, and for State to get to sweep in them as well? You just can't beat that.
 |  |
RSS Feed