Notes, quotes and a thought or two while remembering the 1990 South II Regional at Mississippi State when Burke Masters hit a grand slam to beat No. 1 Florida State.
As soon as I saw the regional pairings announced by the NCAA, I knew the Hattiesburg Regional would be a special one, especially in our house.
I graduated from Mississippi State. I grew up a Mississippi State fan. The first college sporting event I ever saw was a Mississippi State baseball game. I am a Bulldog.
On the other hand, my wife is a graduate of Southern Mississippi. She loves the Eagles and even our sons are divided. The oldest, Jacob, is a State fan. Marshall is an Eagle. We are a house divided. So when I saw the pairings for the Hattiesburg regional, I knew it would be interesting.
But then the Bulldogs lost to South Alabama in the opening round of the regional and put a potential second-round matchup with Southern Miss on hold. By the way, as a side note, my hats off to South Alabama pitcher Randy Bell. He is a native of Woodville, Miss., and graduated from Centerville Academy, where he led the Tigers to two state championships in baseball. I’m sure that beating Mississippi State was huge for this young man after getting passed over in high school and going to Hinds.
After Bell sent the Bulldogs to the loser’s bracket, things got interesting. In between a bunch of rain, the Bulldogs squeezed out a pair of wins to finally get that match with Southern Miss. The Eagles beat the Bulldogs 7-5 in their regular-season contest and I’ve had to hear about it all season long.
Now let me just say, I’m a big fan of Southern Miss head coach Scott Berry, who has done a tremendous job with the Eagles. I covered Scott at Meridian Community College and he’s a great guy.
So the Bulldogs made it to the championship series against the Eagles. We were able to stream the game on ESPN and follow along. I was sort of surprised that the Bulldogs won that first game and forced a deciding game. By that time of night it was pushing my bedtime. And like many of the people I talked to, after the Eagles went ahead 4-1, I thought it was over. I have seen it many times. A team has to win two games and wins the first one easily but gets hammered in the second contest.
I was tired and laid down. It wasn’t until I heard my wife screaming at the television that I decided to get up and see what was going on. It was at the point that Berry got ejected and I can’t say that I disagree with him. I would have probably gotten tossed at that point myself.
I stayed up for the rest of the contest and did my best to keep my mouth shut. My wife was not happy with the final results and I understand.
As I thought about what Mississippi State had just done, it brought me back to that South II Regional at Mississippi State when the Bulldogs beat Florida State to advance to the College World Series. That was a special day.
When the Bulldogs beat Southern Miss, it will go down as one of the special days in MSU baseball history. The Bulldogs are playing with a first-year coach and major injuries in the pitching staff.
Most of MSU’s big regional wins have come at the friendly confines of Dudy Noble which is what makes winning the Hattiesburg Regional that more special.
I honestly tip my hat to both sides for a great regional. And here’s the funny thing about all of this. Had the regional gotten rained out, Southern Miss would have advanced as the high seed. But I know that Scott Berry didn’t want to win that way. He wanted to beat MSU on the field. And if it wasn’t for an outstanding performance by the USM grounds crew, those last two games never happen.
Indeed a series to remember and one that I’m sure will only add a little fire to the Robertson family feud.
Robbie Robertson is sports editor for The Newton County Appeal.
