OMAHA, Neb. — After Mississippi State beat No. 2 Texas in Sunday night’s College World Series opener, coach Chris Lemonis issued a directive to his players: Celebrate the win — but stay the course.

“Enjoy tonight,” Lemonis told the Bulldogs. “When we wake up tomorrow morning, it’s over.”

With so much left to play for, the third-year MSU coach knows his team can’t afford to ride too high off its third straight opening-game win in Omaha, Nebraska. He was there when the Bulldogs won their first game in the 2019 event, walking off Auburn with a dramatic comeback, just to lose twice in a row and end up back home in Starkville.

It’s a fate Lemonis is determined to avoid this time around.

“We did not come here just to win one game or two games,” he told his team. “(The goal) is to play through this tournament and win this tournament.”

Achieving that objective will be made easier by a victory in the Bulldogs’ winners’ bracket matchup with Virginia (36-25) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at TD Ameritrade Park. The unseeded Cavaliers shut out No. 3 Tennessee 6-0 on Sunday to continue a strong run of play.

“They can really, really pitch it,” Lemonis said of Virginia, which used six strong innings from starter Andrew Abbott and a three-inning save by reliever Matt Wyatt to blank the red-hot Volunteers. “You’re dealing with some upper-level arms.”

Senior Griff McGarry had a brilliant start for the Hoos against Dallas Baptist in Game 2 of NCAA Super Regional play, striking out 10 over seven shutout innings. Devin Ortiz — Virginia’s starting designated hitter Sunday against Tennessee — was effective in a start against Old Dominion as UVA emerged from the Columbia (S.C.) Regional.

Nate Savino (3.86 ERA), Zach Messinger (4.31) and Mike Vasil (4.82) have all thrown at least 50 innings for Virginia this season.

Mississippi State named left-hander Christian MacLeod its starter Monday afternoon. The redshirt freshman will face a Cavaliers lineup featuring four left-handed bats and five right-handers.

It’s a batting order that offers pop from top to bottom as seven starters have at least three home runs this season. Graduate catcher Logan Michaels hit his first of the season Sunday in the 6-0 victory, continuing a Virginia power surge. The Hoos hit two home runs in five of their nine postseason games and one in the four others, going deep in every single contest.

“They’ve started hitting the home run here in the postseason, so it’s kind of propelled them a little bit,” Lemonis said.

The long ball has helped UVA reach baseball’s elite eight after a start to the season that seemed to promise anything but a trip to Omaha. The Hoos started just 9-12 against a tough schedule, including losses to North Carolina, Florida State, Notre Dame, Miami and then-ranked Pittsburgh.

“They’re very talented,” Lemonis said. “Don’t let the early-season record fool you.”

On offense, the Cavaliers are a ways behind the Bulldogs, averaging just 5.72 runs per game to Mississippi State’s 7.05. Outfielder Kyle Teel, who hit a go-ahead grand slam in Game 3 of Super Regionals, leads the team with a .318 average and nine home runs, while Zach Gelof is hitting .306 with nine homers. No Virginia player has more than 10 long balls, while Mississippi State has five such hitters.

But Lemonis has warned his team not to get complacent with so much at stake. He texts his coaches like he does his players, reminding them not to get caught up in greeting fans, seeing family and losing focus in the every-other-day playing schedule. He’s tried to do the same.

“I’m really challenging myself to keep baseball at the forefront of everything and stay locked in, and same thing with our kids,” Lemonis said, quoting the team’s motto: “Don’t get too high; don’t get too low.”

With as few as two wins separating them from a berth in the best-of-three final series, the Bulldogs currently have no reason to get too low. But riding high might not serve them well with so much left to be decided.

“That’s been the mentality coming here: not to be satisfied,” Lemonis said.

Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.