SEC Super Regional Weekend: The Good, The Bad, and The Super Bad

4 of 4

Mississippi State

My heart goes out to fans of the Mississippi State baseball team. They have to feel like their team’s Starkville Super Regional was a huge disappointment. The concern going into game 1 was Dakota Hudson’s recent performances, and many felt that Mississippi State could withstand a game 1 loss and bounce back to win the series.

More from Southbound and Down

Well, in game 1 they got a magnificent effort from Hudson who only allowed 1 earned run on one mistake which resulted in the 1-run home run that decided the game. Mississippi State’s offense was shut out as Arizona spread out Mississippi State’s 5 hits.

Game 2 looked as if we were heading to a game 3 as Mississippi State tacked on a run in the top of the 8th to go up 5-1. Then all hell broke loose on the Mississippi State bullpen. They gave up 3 runs in the 8th, and blew the 5-4 lead in the bottom of the 9th. They barely got themselves out of a bases loaded 2 out situation in the bottom of the 10th only to find themselves in the same position in the bottom of the 11th. That time they weren’t so lucky, and Mississippi State fans left Dudy Noble Field trying to wrap their head around what just happened as their team lost 6-5 in 11 innings.

A staple atop the top10 all season, this is not the ending Mississippi State and company were looking for in this Super Regional. Their team is going to be pilfered by the MLB draft, and surely fans and players alike will look back at this as an opportunity that got away.

LSU

I’ll admit it, I was right about one thing, I thought this series was going to be a sweep, and I was right. I was just wrong about which team would be on the winning side of that sweep. As mentioned in my preview, these teams were performing nearly identical through their Regionals, and if LSU didn’t come out to play, they would find themselves exiting earlier than expected. Sure enough, it looks like that is what happened.

After building a 4-2 lead through 5 innings in game 1, Alex Lange got rocked in the 6th. LSU skipper Paul Mainieri allowed Lange to try and pitch himself out of the inning but by the time he pulled him, the damage had been done. Lange gave up 4 earned runs in the 6th and LSU had officially blown their lead and found themselves trailing 6-4. That was the closest the game would be as Coastal Carolina jumped to an 11-5 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th, where LSU went on to make it look respectable as they put 3 more on the board to lose 11-8.

More from SEC Baseball

Game 2 was much closer and much more entertaining. Coastal Carolina jumped out to 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st as wild pitches aided Coastal Carolina in gaining their lead. It was obvious the nerves were getting to LSU but they settled down and threatened inning after inning, but only to find themselves trailing 3-2 heading into the 9th. A crazy serious of events led to LSU tying the game at 3 despite not scoring a single hit in the top of the 9th.

Now tied up, momentum was in the Tigers’ favor. Then Hunter Newman walked Coastal Carolina’s lead off batter Anthony Marks. After stealing 2nd, Marks was knocked in by a single to left field by Michael Paez and the Tigers’ season was over in the blink of an eye.

If you’ll remember, the only time LSU lost a Super Regional at home was in 2012 against Stony Brook. LSU Head Coach Paul Mainieri had joked, “I thought from then on, when I went to speaking arrangements, I was going to be introduced as the guy who lost to Stony Brook.” Now, he has been the head coach of the only 2 LSU teams to lose Super Regionals at home in program history. Now, he has to worry about being introduced as the guy who lost to Stony Brook and Coastal Carolina. Adding salt to the wound is that this was indeed Coastal Carolina’s first ever Super Regional series win and obviously their first trip to Omaha. With LSU being a perennial baseball power house, this is tough pill for LSU and their fans to swallow.

Texas A&M

After last year’s collapse in the 16th inning of last year’s Super Regionals, Texas A&M and Aggies’ fans everywhere had been waiting on this moment all year. Here was their moment. Their moment for sweet revenge against the TCU team that got away from them last year, and it didn’t start at all how they had imagined over the past year.

TCU jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st before giving up 2 runs to Texas A&M in the bottom of the 1st to head into the 2nd tied at 2. Then it was all TCU from there as A&M gave up 3 runs in the 3rd and the 5th without adding additional runs of their own as they lost Game 1 8-2.

Hope arose after Game 2 when Aggies’ fans got the bounce back from their team that they were looking for after the Game 1 lopsided defeat. TCU never stood a chance as the Aggies jumped on the Horned Frogs in the top of the 1st, going up 3-0 and never looking back to eventually win Game 2 7-1.

Yet again, the Aggies found themselves in a game 3 win or go home scenario with the Horned Frogs, and again the fans of the Aggies had something to cheer about jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st. Then starting TCU pitcher Brian Howard dominated. After giving up 1 hit in the first, he gave up only 1 more hit in his next 6 innings, and the TCU bullpen didn’t give up a hit as Texas A&M finished the closeout game with only 2 hits. After giving up the 1-0 lead in the 5th on a passed ball, A&M just fell apart. They were unable to get anything going and eventually lost 4-1.

Next: Spurrier Legendary Status Cemented in Gainesville

Again, this game just felt like yet another one that got away from Texas A&M. After the wild pitch by Larkins, the entire A&M team looked to lock up. It looked as if the pressure got to Texas A&M. Every batter seemed to be swinging for the fences, and every time they missed there was a visible look of disgust on their faces. TCU is hands down the best team on paper that any of the 5 SEC Super Regional teams had to face, but given the unique circumstances, Texas A&M losing this series has got to be the most disappointing result of all teams involved this past weekend.

All box scores and stats sourced from ncaa.com.

Home/SEC Baseball