Who Mississippi State baseball will play in Starkville Regional in NCAA Tournament
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball's NCAA Tournament regional opponents have been set.
The Bulldogs (40-17) will host No. 4 Lipscomb (29-24) in the Starkville Regional on May 29 (1 p.m., ESPN+). Also in the regional are No. 2 Cincinnati (37-20) and No. 3 Louisiana (39-23) who will play later on May 29 (6 p.m., ESPN+).
It's the first time Dudy Noble Field is hosting a regional since 2021.
MSU is the No. 14 national seed, pairing the Starkville Regional with the Athens Regional and No. 3 Georgia. The winners of those regionals will play each other in a super regional.
Mississippi State baseball's opponents in Starkville Regional
The Bulldogs have familiarity with their first opponent. They swept Lipscomb, the Atlantic Sun champion, at Dudy Noble Field in March. The last game was a 26-0 win for MSU.
Cincinnati and Louisiana are both at-large teams. Louisiana had a strong finish to the season, winning four straight Sun Belt series and reaching the Sun Belt championship game. The Ragin' Cajuns lost to Southern Miss, 11-7, in the championship.
Cincinnati won six straight Big 12 series to end the regular season, including one over West Virginia, who is hosting a regional.
The Bearcats are No. 22 in RPI, while Louisiana is No. 33. Lipscomb is No. 155 in RPI.
Mississippi State baseball NCAA Tournament appearances
Mississippi State is making its 42nd NCAA Tournament appearance. The Bulldogs have made 10 super regionals and 12 College World Series.
MSU won its first and only national championship in 2021.
Mississippi State baseball's performance in SEC
Mississippi State had an up and down run through the SEC schedule.
It won four of its 10 SEC series, all via sweep. However, those four sweeps against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and LSU were all against teams in the bottom half of the standings. MSU lost series against Arkansas, Texas, Auburn and Texas A&M and got swept at Dudy Noble Field by Georgia and Tennessee.
The Bulldogs went 1-1 in the SEC Tournament, beating Missouri in the second round and then losing to Georgia in the quarterfinals.
NCAA baseball tournament schedule
- Regionals: May 29-June 1
- Super regionals: June 5-8
- College World Series: June 12-22
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State plays Lipscomb to open NCAA Starkville Regional
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