(Photos from Ole Miss and Southern Miss online/social media)
- Mississippi State’s 2025 baseball season ended Sunday but there’s optimism in Starkville as the Bulldogs announced their new skipper.
After losing their opening round games Friday in their NCAA Regionals, both Ole Miss and Southern Miss battled back over the weekend to earn a spot in the Regional Championship games Monday being played in Oxford and Hattiesburg, respectively.
No. 10 national seed and No. 1 regional seed Ole Miss (43-20) lost their Friday game to No. 4 regional seed Murray State. The Rebels then advanced through the loser’s bracket, eliminating Georgia Tech and Western Kentucky, to again face Murray State Sunday night where Ole Miss downed the Racers 19-8 to force a Monday regional finale.
No. 16 national seed and No. 1 regional seed Southern Miss (47-15) took a similar path during the weekend, losing its opening regional game Friday to No. 4 seed Columbia. The Golden Eagles worked its way back through the loser’s bracket where they eliminated Alabama and Columbia before setting up a Sunday matchup with No. 3 regional seed Miami. Southern Miss then topped Miami 17-6 to set up the regional finale Monday.
If Ole Miss and Southern Miss win their regional championships, the teams could both be hosting Super Regionals later this week as No. 7 national seed Georgia and No. 1 national seed Vanderbilt both lost their regionals.
Ole Miss plays at 5 p.m. Monday on ESPN+ while Southern Miss plays at 8 p.m., also on ESPN+.
As for Mississippi State, the No. 3 regional seed Bulldogs won their opening game Friday against No. 2 regional seed Northeastern in the Tallahassee but then dropped game two to No. 9 national seed and No. 1 regional seed Florida State. Mississippi State (36-23) battled back to eliminate Northeastern before losing again to Florida State Sunday by a score of 5-2, ending their 2025 season.
However, soon after their loss, the Mississippi State Athletics Department announced that the school has hired Brian O’Connor, a 2024 Hall of Fame inductee and the all-time winningest coach at Virginia, to be its 19th head baseball coach in program history.
O’Connor brings with him 917 career victories, seven College World Series appearances and a national title.
Mississippi State said the team will formally introduce Coach O’Connor at a public welcome event set for 7 p.m. on Thursday at Dudy Noble Field.
Magnolia Tribune
