A mid-season Mississippi college baseball check-up

• Cherished scenes from deep postseason runs, so important in the building of college baseball in the state, look like they may be still at least a year away.

Modern-day college baseball national championships for Mississippi State and Ole Miss, wildly celebrated by fans of the schools, are two of the most significant achievements in their sports histories.

Each of them came after many years – more years for Mississippi State – of deep postseason runs and magical success.

But in the grand scheme of things, would fans trade those championships for continued respect and relevance on the national stage?

It’s an interesting question.

Struggles have followed Omaha glory for both schools – 2021 for State, 2022 for Ole Miss — as they continue in search of their previous competitive levels.

Since the Bulldogs won it all they are 40-65 in SEC regular season play.

The Rebels since their championship are 26-49 against the league.

Fans crave the programs’ former consistency and continue to pack arguably the two nicest stadiums in college baseball that sit less than two hours apart in this state.

The health of baseball in Mississippi still requires regular check-ups.

The Bulldogs reversed the conference losing trend last year. They went 17-13 in the SEC and were in the discussion to host a regional before being sent to Virginia where they were eliminated by the hosts in the championship round.

But a dreadful start to this season has fueled social media calls for Chris Lemonis’ job.

Seeking break-through against top teams

The Rebels have gotten off to a great start to the SEC schedule, winning three straight series for the first time since 2018 after a competitive 2-1 series loss to No. 1 Arkansas to start things off.

Here’s the asterisk.

The series wins have come against Kentucky, Florida and Missouri, the Nos. 11, 14 and 16 teams in the standings as the weekend began.

Southern Miss, in its second year under Christian Ostrander, is once again competing for the Sun Belt regular season title.

The stadium is smaller, but the experience and passion are the same.

The Golden Eagles had a leg up in the Sun Belt chase before last weekend’s series loss at Marshall. They entered the weekend tied with Coastal Carolina.

They won the series 2-1 at Texas State over this weekend, but Coastal swept at Georgia State and has a one-game lead.

The Rebels showed fight in back-ending the series at Kentucky with 3-1 and 5-4 (12 innings) wins in the last two games.

That was the set-up for a No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 5 Tennessee series at Swayze Field.

It started poorly for the Rebels when they couldn’t break Vols left-hander Liam Doyle, who seems to have found himself after posting a 3-4 mark with a 5.73 ERA for Ole Miss last year.

Doyle was cocky in his return, but the Rebels had to sit there and take it for 8 1-3 innings.

Ole Miss starter Hunter Elliott was wild with four walks in four innings but combined with Mason Morris the Rebels had pitching they could win with had they been able to figure out Doyle.

They could not.

The bats were better Saturday, and the Rebels won 8-5, boosted by 1 1-3 innings of one-hit scoreless relief from Connor Spencer.

They lost the series Sunday after giving up a one-run lead in the ninth and falling 10-8 as Tennessee scored three runs on three hits.

So are the Rebels back? Back-ish might be a better description.

A 9-6 first half of SEC play is much better than the last two seasons, but they’re going to have to start winning series against better SEC teams to have a chance to host.

Opportunities against No. 17 Vanderbilt, at No. 19 Oklahoma and No. 11 Auburn remain.

State pulled off a series win at No. 7 Alabama, their second-straight series win, though it was hard to think two wins against struggling South Carolina was righting the ship.

This weekend the Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead then put up seven runs in the fifth in a 13-3 run-rule win in Game 1.

Sunday, three MSU pitchers limited Alabama to two hits in a 4-2 win.

Nate Williams threw 3 1-3 innings of hitless, scoreless relief with a walk and four strikeouts.

For State, it’s an uptick but a long way from healing.

Built for postseason baseball

Even if Lemonis salvages this season with an NCAA bid that’s not the standard for his job.

State’s baseball palace wasn’t built for a team to be a 2 seed on the road.

It was built for Burke Masters’ grand slam in a Dudy Noble Field regional against Florida State in 1990, for fans serenading Jake Mangum in his last home college at-bat in the 2019 super regional against Stanford or Luke Hancock’s grand slam against Notre Dame in the third game of the 2021 super regional.

These are the images that Zac Selmon has to consider when evaluating Lemonis at the end of the year.

So, as 2025 begins the race to the finish line, is Mississippi’s college baseball brand back?

It’s not likely.

Southern Miss, with a 36 RPI, isn’t treading in host territory.

Ole Miss, at No. 9 in the RPI, could get there if it starts closing series against better teams.

The Rebels are, however, on track to make an important next step, a return to the NCAA Tournament.

But those cherished scenes from deep postseason runs, so important in the building of college baseball in the state, look like they may be still at least a year away.