STARKVILLE — It may not feel like it, but the state of Mississippi currently owns college baseball.
For fans of the state’s two Southeastern Conference programs, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, watching last week’s NCAA Tournament regionals and this week’s Super Regionals from home are painful reminders of disappointing seasons. But since June 30, 2021, the sport’s national title has paid rent in the Magnolia State.
That is 709 days and counting. Pretty impressive, no matter which side of the rivalry you are on.
That streak could be extended another year, but it would take a College World Series championship from Southern Mississippi to do it.
Yes, that Sun Belt school with an undergraduate population of just over 10,000, looking to send its legendary coach out on a high note.
It may be tough to stomach for Mississippi State fans. Another in-state program winning a title while your program missed the Big Dance all together for the second-straight season.
But don’t look at it as cheering for Southern Miss. Rather, call it cheering for Mississippi history.
Let me explain. In the history of the NCAA baseball tournament, no state has ever had three separate programs win consecutive national titles.
California won in 1947, Southern California in 1948 and then Texas in 1949.
Cal again in 1957, USC followed in 1958 but Oklahoma State won in ‘59.
Arizona in 1976, Arizona State in 1977 then USC in 1978. The Trojans were followed by Cal State Fullerton in 1979, but Arizona won again in 1980, followed by Arizona State in ‘81 and Miami (FL) in 1982 to end that sunny streak.
Texas won in 2002, then Rice in 2003 but Fullerton won in 2004.
Now, Mississippi State in 2021, Ole Miss in 2022 and….? Who knows.
The Golden Eagles begin their Super Regional slate at home June 10 against Tennessee (2 p.m./ESPNU). Two wins would advance them to Omaha, and a shot at the program’s first – and the state’s third consecutive – national title. Unless your SEC pride is oozing out of your body, that should be enough of a reason to root for USM.
How about rooting for Scott Berry, a Mississippi Junior College 2014 Hall of Fame inductee, who’s coached in the state since 1991 — from Meridian Community College to Hattiesburg — getting to end his coaching career like a baseball legend should?
What about the fact that before many of these Golden Eagles became in-state rivals to the Bulldogs, they were community heroes? Maybe your community heroes.
There are 20 USM players who grew up in Mississippi, including Colby Allen, who played high school ball at Starkville Academy.
Slade Wilks, who leads USM with 20 home runs, played at Columbia Academy in Columbia.
Dustin Dickerson, who has scored a team-high 55 runs, played at West Jones in Laurel.
Up-and-down the roster are players who got their starts in the same dirt and cages as MSU’s Kellum Clark in Brandon, Ross Highfill in Madison and right in MSU’s backyard in Starkville.
I moved to Mississippi in April, so maybe I am still too new to the rivalry dynamics to understand why some can’t fathom cheering for the Golden Eagles. But I would rather root for the little guy than watch another SEC program parade around a national title for another season.
And for this state to continue its stranglehold on the college baseball world.
Justin Frommer is the Mississippi State sports reporter for The Dispatch.
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