STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball begins its postseason journey this weekend at the Tallahassee regional.
The Bulldogs face off with Northeastern on Friday at 6:30 p.m., and will have to play one of Florida State or Bethune-Cookman on Saturday regardless of that result. The difference will come down to being in the winners bracket or the losers bracket.
The favorites will be the Power Five schools in both matchups, but MSU and Parker in particular aren’t writing off the CAA champions, and for good reason.
Northeastern
The Huskies boast a remarkable 48-9 overall record, a program record as well as the best record in Division I, and ride a 27-game winning streak into the NCAA tournament.
The team also leads Division I with a 2.92 ERA. The next closest team is Coastal Carolina with 3.24. As a staff, the Huskies pitchers lead the DI in walks per inning, and ace Will Jones is 11-0 and third in individual ERA.
Jones also joins Aiden Cabral and Jordan Gottesman in the Top 17 among DI pitchers in WHIP.
Parker called Northeastern a “complete team” in his press conference on Tuesday, noting their experience and depth as well as their defensive prowess, but on offense, there is plenty to worry about as well. The Huskies are opportunistic, and at this time of year, they’ll need to be if they’re to make some noise as a mid-major against established ACC and SEC powers.
“Their style is up-tempo,” Parker said of Northeastern. “There are a lot of stolen bases, they can turn a two-run lead into a five-run lead, their playbook is deep in the short game. They’re very opportunistic, they’re very athletic. I think they’re old on the mound, and they’re old and experienced with position players.”
Florida State
The Seminoles (38-17) finished the regular season as the No. 2 seed in the ACC, falling to eventual conference champions North Carolina at the ACC Tournament. Their strong campaign was enough to host a regional for the 37th time in program history.
Head coach Link Jarrett is looking to take the team back to Omaha after picking up his first College World Series appearance at the helm in 2024, and he has a talented enough squad to take them there.
All-ACC First Team shortstop Alex Lodise leads a prolific group of batters. Six Seminoles have a batting average of .300 or better and Lodise and Max Williams have 17 home runs each to lead the team.
On the mound, FSU has one of the premier aces in the game in Jamie Arnold, who holds a 7-2 record from 13 starts with a 3.04 ERA.
Simply put, the Seminoles are as strong as can be expected of one of the most consistently competitive programs in college baseball. They’re hosts for a reason, and the Bulldogs know it.
“They’ve been in this position and hosted more regionals than anybody in the country,” Parker said of FSU. “I have great respect for Coach Jarett and what he’s done, and of course, they have arguably the best combination of starter and position player in the country with (Alex) Lodise and (Jamie) Arnold.”
Bethune-Cookman
The fourth and final seed at the Tallahassee regional is a team that had to scrap its way into the postseason. Bethune-Cookman has the unfortunate task of facing off against FSU on Friday to lead off the weekend.
The Wildcats and Seminoles have already met once this year, with the Noles winning a tight game, 9-7. Despite some poor defensive showings, the team has been able to hang with most opponents thanks to a high-flying offense.
Andrey Martinez leads the team with 20 home runs and 63 RBI, leading an accomplished lineup that can get on base multiple ways. Martinez and Jorge Rodriguez both boast .350+ batting averages, and the team averages .307.
The Wildcats rode their offense through the SWAC tournament, winning shootouts against Texas Southern, Alabama State and Florida A&M to book their ticket to the regional round.
This is Bethune-Cookman’s first trip to a regional since 2017, when the Wildcats went to Gainesville and took Florida to the wire for a chance at a Super Regional, losing in the final game 6-1.
It’s the first postseason appearance under head coach Jonathan Hernandez, who took the reins in 2019.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
