NIL
NCAA tournament projections for Justin Parker
STARKVILLE — One week might’ve spun Mississippi State baseball’s season around. The Bulldogs fired coach Chris Lemonis on April 28, then proceeded to go 4-0 in the week with a win versus Memphis and sweep against Kentucky. Justin Parker is the interim coach as MSU (29-19, 10-14 SEC) hosts No. 22 Ole Miss (33-15, 13-11) […]
STARKVILLE — One week might’ve spun Mississippi State baseball’s season around.
The Bulldogs fired coach Chris Lemonis on April 28, then proceeded to go 4-0 in the week with a win versus Memphis and sweep against Kentucky.
Justin Parker is the interim coach as MSU (29-19, 10-14 SEC) hosts No. 22 Ole Miss (33-15, 13-11) for a three-game series at Dudy Noble Field beginning on May 9 (7:30 p.m., SEC Network).
Here’s where Mississippi State stands in the latest NCAA tournament projections.
Mississippi State baseball NCAA tournament projections
D1Baseball projects Mississippi State in the field as a No. 3 seed in the Tallahassee Regional. It has Florida State as a No. 1 seed, Troy No. 2 and Bethune-Cookman at No. 4.
Baseball America has the same exact projection as D1Baseball.
Aria Gerson of the Tennessean also has Mississippi State as a No. 3 seed in the Tallahassee Regional. She matches MSU up with No. 2 Southern Miss, who MSU went 1-1 against this season. Bethune-Cookman is listed as the No. 4 seed.
Mississippi State NCAA tournament resume
Mississippi State is No. 35 in RPI as of May 7. That’s up eight spots from last week.
The three Kentucky wins were all considered Quad 2. MSU is 5-16 in Quad 1 games and 24-3 against everyone else. The Ole Miss series will be Quad 1.
It’s possible Mississippi State’s RPI drops slightly next week because of the quality of its opponents to close the season. After Ole Miss, the Bulldogs host North Alabama (RPI No. 200) for a midweek game then end the regular season with a three-game series at Missouri, who’s winless in the SEC with a No. 157 RPI.
Mississippi State baseball NCAA tournament history under Justin Parker
Mississippi State doesn’t have an NCAA tournament history with Parker as head coach, but it had mixed results under Lemonis.
It peaked twice with two College World Series appearances in 2019 and 2021. The Bulldogs won the national championship in 2021. There was no NCAA tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bulldogs made the postseason only one other time in Lemonis’ seven-year tenure. It was last season when they lost to Virginia in the Charlottesville Regional.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.