OmaDawgs ready to seize the moment

In some ways, it’s hard to fathom why this Mississippi State baseball team, compared to the last two Super Regional squads, is the one that actually made it to Omaha.

The Bulldogs certainly had every excuse not to make it this far, but they chose not to use any of them.

In 2016, 44 win MSU hosted Arizona in a Super Regional only to get swept in a pair of one-run defeats. Then in 2016, 40 win State made the trip down to Baton Rouge only to get swept once again by LSU. Which brings us to 2018, the year of the rally banana where the 37 win OmaDawgs took one of the most improbable roads imaginable to the College World Series.

Yet here they are, less than 24 hours away, still reflecting on the journey that was. MSU second baseman Hunter Stovall said, “This group of guys right here is unbelievable, it’s the greatest baseball team I’ve ever been a part of. And we’re not going to quit, we’re not going to stop fighting. You’ve got everything we’ve got, and you’re just going to have to be better than us to beat us.”

MSU pitcher Cole Gordon said, “There’s a little chip on this team’s shoulder. We were doubted a lot of the year, we were questioned, made fun of, all that kind of stuff that kind of fuels your fire a little bit. And I think they’ve proven throughout this whole year that there’s no quit in this team and that’s what you need to move this far into the tournament.”

MSU center fielder Jake Mangum said, “All three teams I’ve been a part of at Mississippi State have all been tough, as it’s all been really tough guys. It’s just this team was able to get those last two wins.”

Interim head Coach Gary Henderson said, “This may or may not be as good a team as last year, or I don’t know how you measure those things, but sometimes things break your way. Sometimes you’ve got guys on base and you hit a baseball as hard as it can be hit and it turns into a double play. And other times you get jammed or capped and the ball falls in and it’s a two-run double. It’s just a unique sport.”

Mississippi State and Washington will lead things off at 7 p.m. tomorrow from TD Ameritrade Park.