With summer in full swing, one of my favorite weeks of the year is the weekend of regional play in college baseball and the Women’s College World Series.
That means there is usually some pretty good ball on the tube.
This past week, Mississippi State pulled off one of the more improbable wins of the baseball tournament when they beat Florida State 3-2 on Saturday. If you haven’t seen Elijah MacNamee’s walk-off three-run home run a
gainst the home-standing Seminoles, it shouldn’t be too hard to find on social media.
I was tickled a little bit when reading through Twitter about how that was one of the greatest home runs in Mississippi State history.
Now don’t get me wrong here, this Mississippi State team has been through a lot and deserves whatever success comes their way. But to say it’s the biggest in MSU history is a little short-sighted.
I need only to point to another blast against Florida State.
It was 1990 in the South II Regional at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs were down 8-7 to Florida State, who was the No. 1 seed in the tournament. But the regional was at Starkville and there were 10,000-plus Bulldog faithful there that day.
Florida State had been ranked No. 1 in the nation at various times that season. My buddy, Rocky Higginbotham, and his father, Roger, were there at the game in left field. Masters had already had a big day at the plate, going 4-for-4 heading into the ninth inning. Masters, who ended up as MSU’s all-time hits leader, was a solid player but would never be called big.
Masters launched a ball into the Left Field Lounge that was easily the most exciting thing I have ever seen with my own eyes. I’ll never forget watching the left fielder when the ball was hit. He never moved, he knew it was gone.
That win helped propel Mississippi State to Omaha and the College World Series that year. This year’s Bulldogs did the same thing they did last year and came back to win the regional. Now its on to a Super Regional for the 2018 Bulldogs. What this year’s squad has done so far is special. It’s not often you make a Super Regional after your head coach got fired a week into the season.
But any time someone brings up something about a big home run for Mississippi State, I’ll bring up the Burke Master’s grand slam. Plus, it was at home, in front of the Bulldog faithful while this past weekend’s home run was
in Tallahassee. They are both great but the Burke Masters grand slam will always be my favorite. Sorry, it’s just different.
Elsewhere in college baseball
I was sort of surprised that Southern Mississippi only played three games in the NCAA Tournament this year. But in the Eagles’ defense, they might have been sent to one of the toughest regionals in the country. The team that put USM out, Dallas Baptist, is one of those schools that college baseball fans know about. They are a solid baseball program and it took USM’s ace to beat them in the first round.
Up north, Ole Miss got past a rainy Friday and came within one game of hosting a Super Regional. However, the Rebels lost twice to Tennessee Tech on Monday, including a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to end the Rebels season.
I think it’s time for people around the country to start taking baseball in Mississippi seriously. That’s three really good baseball teams in one state. I doubt you could find another state with the combined record of MSU, USM and Ole Miss. And the thing I like about it, all three teams win with Mississippi kids.
