STARKVILLE – Most Mississippi State fans would have loved to be a fly on the wall in the home of Bryce Chance on Sunday evening.
The graduate student outfielder sat anxiously waiting to see if he would finally fulfill his goal of playing postseason baseball at Dudy Noble Field. He was in charge of rapidly refreshing Instagram, while his wife, Abby, did the same on X, both hoping each swipe down would reveal where MSU would play its regional round.
Chance’s first year on campus, 2022, a year in which he saw no action as a redshirt, was the first in a stretch that saw no postseason baseball in Starkville. He left the field after State’s last home series against Auburn nervous that it may be the last time he played at The Dude.
Finally, the post came in, and Chance’s dream of home tournament baseball had come true. Starkville was announced as one of 16 teams to host an NCAA regional.
First, Chance shot up, followed by a jovial, “Oh my God, we got it.” Next, his phone started buzzing with messages in the MSU Baseball group chat.
“It was a special moment for me,” Chance said. “And then just to see the group chat light up after that was pretty fun.”
MSU learned Monday it is the No. 14 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs will host Cincinnati of the Big 12, Louisiana of the Sun Belt and Lipscomb, winners of the Atlantic Sun.
“I’m so happy for our guys that they get to play some more in this great stadium,” head coach Brian O’Connor said.
MSU will open its tournament with Lipscomb at 1 p.m. Friday. State swept the Bison in a three-game series in March which included a 26-0 walloping in the series finale. O’Connor said he can take a bit from the series in preparation for the game, but also understands they are a different team than they were in March.
If State takes down Lipscomb, it will face the winner of Cincinnati and Louisiana. If State is upset in Game 1, it will face the loser.
Cincinnati finished the year 37-20 and 22nd in the country in rating percentage index, which ranks a team’s strength of schedule and strength of record.
Louisiana fell just short of a Sun Belt tournament championship against Southern Miss, and came into the regional with a 37-21 record. The Ragin’ Cajuns are one of five Sun Belt teams to make the NCAA tournament.
If the tournament stays chalk, MSU will see a familiar face in the Super Regional. State is paired with No. 3 seed Georgia, a team MSU has played and lost to four times this season. MSU’s campaign in the SEC tournament came to an end at the hands of Georgia, falling to the Bulldogs, 5-3.
Jake is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for The Dispatch.
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