St. John’s first challenge for Mississippi State as Regional run begins
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Although the disappointment of Mississippi State’s hosting snub is still fresh on the minds of the Diamond Dawgs this week, the team is turning the page.
No matter the location, State’s hopes of making a run to the College World Series remain. A Regional at Virginia is the new challenge for a team that has been through quite a bit of adversity this season and managed to get back into postseason for the first time since the 2021 season.
State (38-21) enter Friday night’s game one of the Charlottesville Regional having played good baseball down the stretch. Even some struggles on the offensive side of the ball haven’t stopped the Bulldogs from winning games or at least staying close with opponents. It’s led to 12 losses this year by one run but several wins have come by the same margin.
“The dynamic of our team is pitching and defense so you’re in every game,” coach Chris Lemonis said. “I think they’ve learned to hang around. I think we understand that you can win a game at any time and not to get your head down. And we’ve played so many (close games). I don’t know how many people have played many one run or two run games than we have all year. It should make you better for the postseason.”
A team pitching it and defending it well isn’t something uncommon in Starkville, but it’s been missing the last couple of seasons. The Bulldogs were among the SEC’s worst defensive teams last year and were at the very bottom on the mound.
After finishing 2023 with an eye-popping ERA over 7.00 runs, State has cut that total nearly in half. The Bulldogs have the No. 12 ERA in the country at 4.15 and they’re tied for second nationally with a .982 fielding percentage.
In the other dugout on Friday night at 6 p.m. (CT) will be a team that has been built similarly. The Big East Tournament Champions of St. John’s (37-16-1) are 16th in the country in ERA (4.26) and tied for 23rd with a .978 fielding percentage. With the Big East’s No. 3 offense, it’s a group that does a little bit of everything well.
“They’re good. They do a lot of different things offensively and they have a mixed pitching staff that can do a lot of different things,” Lemonis said. “As we break it down, it’s a good matchup. I’ve played against St. John’s for years. Some really tough matchups and probably some of the tougher kids you’ll play against.”
State will bring one of the country’s best starting pitching staffs to the Regional this week. The Bulldogs will start Khal Stephen on Friday against the Red Storm and are looking to move into the winner’s bracket with a good performance.
Stephen won’t be alarmed by any of the offense that he sees after putting together a great run against SEC hitters this season as a first-team All-Conference season. However, he expects the Red Storm to fight every pitch at the plate.
“The game plan that we’ve looked over is they’re a real gritty team and are going to be really aggressive,” Stephen said. “Just kind of controlling the small ball and do what we can to say ahead.”
The Bulldogs and Red Storm will be on ESPN+ on Friday night.
The post St. John’s first challenge for Mississippi State as Regional run begins appeared first on On3.
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