After finishing .500 or better in Southeastern Conference play for the first time since 2007, Mississippi State is ready for the postseason. And the Bulldogs have a lot to play for this week at Auburn’s Jane B. Moore Field.

The only SEC team to miss the NCAA Tournament in 2023, MSU is all but assured of a return to the tournament this year, but the Bulldogs (33-17, 12-12 SEC) are hoping for more than that. Despite hitting a rough patch in late April, MSU rebounded to win two out of three against Georgia to close the regular season and still has a shot to host a regional for the first time in program history.

The No. 6 seed Bulldogs arrived in Auburn on Monday, giving them plenty of time to prepare for their first SEC Tournament game Wednesday night against 11th-seed South Carolina. A win over the Gamecocks may not move the needle much, but it would send MSU to the quarterfinals against No. 3 seed Texas A&M, and if the Bulldogs can knock off the Aggies, it may just be enough to sneak in and earn a top-16 national seed.

“We’re just really excited,” fifth-year senior pitcher Aspen Wesley said. “As long as we have fun, keep doing what we’re doing and try not to get ahead of ourselves, we’re going to do just fine.”

As of Tuesday, MSU’s RPI was back up to No. 20, but the Bulldogs still have work to do to climb into the hosting conversation — the worst RPI of a team that ended up hosting in the last five tournaments was 18. Some of the peripheral metrics should help, though. MSU is an impressive 11-11 against the top 25 and has 19 wins against the top 50, more than any of the other teams around them in the latest RPI.

The road starts with South Carolina (33-21, 8-16), a team the Bulldogs already took a series from in Columbia back in early April. The Gamecocks have the SEC’s worst team batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage and have hit just 32 home runs, the fewest in the conference. South Carolina’s pitching, though, is among the SEC’s best.

Led by Stanford transfer Alana Vawter, the Gamecocks’ team ERA of 2.02 is behind only conference champion Tennessee, and they keep the ball in the park better than any other SEC team, yielding just 18 homers in the regular season. Sage Mardjetko and Jori Heard complement Vawter to form one of the strongest pitching staffs in the conference.

Texas A&M (39-12, 15-9) took two out of three at Nusz Park in mid-March, but enters the postseason trending in the wrong direction after being swept at Florida. The Aggies, once considered a lock to host, are now down to No. 16 in the RPI, so a potential MSU-A&M quarterfinal matchup could have major implications for Selection Sunday.

With Trinity Cannon, Allie Enright and Jazmine Hill leading the way, the Aggies are second to the Gators in team batting average in the SEC. Tall left-hander Emiley Kennedy is Texas A&M’s ace, with a 20-10 record and a 1.67 ERA in 168 innings pitched.

Wesley comes in pitching the best softball of her career, holding a deep Georgia lineup to one run over 14 innings in two wins last weekend. Sophomore Josey Marron has struggled of late, though, although she did throw a shutout against South Carolina last month.

The Bulldogs’ offense stumbled down the stretch and scored just four runs in the Georgia series despite winning two of three. In particular, MSU needs to get Madisyn Kennedy going again — the fifth-year senior hit 10 homers and drove in 34 runs in March, but was held to just one hit over her last eight games. That one hit was a go-ahead solo shot Friday night against Georgia, but teams are pitching her differently and she has not shown consistency in her adjustments.

The conference tournament is also a homecoming of sorts for Jessie Blaine, who transferred from Auburn last offseason and is batting .328 with a .543 slugging percentage in her first year as a Bulldog.

“She’s such a great team player, and she’s all in for the matchups and for doing whatever she can to help the team,” head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “Just another one who fits so well in our culture when she got here. It feels like she’s been here for three years. We’re excited to have her, taking her back to her original field, but I know she’s proud to be here in the maroon and white.”

MSU

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – Denzer Guzman made himself right at home with a solo Home Run in his debut for the Rocket City Trash Pandas in their win over the Mississippi Braves 4-2.

Following a 45-minute rain delay prior to the game, Mississippi wasted no time finding the scoreboard as infielder Nacho Alavrez Jr. doubled to drive in the opening run in the first inning.

Rocket City responded in the next half inning as outfielder Eric Wagaman ripped one over the leftfield wall for a two-run homer off Braves starting pitcher Drew Parrish (L, 2-3), giving the Trash Pandas a 2-1 lead.

Mississippi evened the score in the second as infielder Bryson Horne singled in the tying run for the team’s third hit of the inning. The Braves took the lead later in the frame with a sacrifice fly from outfielder Justin Dean.

The Trash Pandas tied the game again in the next half inning as infielder Denzer Guzman hit a solo homer in his first AA at-bat to knot the game at three.

Rocket City grabbed the lead in the fourth as on a hit-and-run, infielder Kyren Paris scored from second off an infield single to short from outfielder Gustavo Campero.

The Trash Pandas bullpen, led by two hitless innings from Ivan Armstrong (W, 3-0) and a 1-2-3 ninth from Michael Darrell-Hicks (S, 3), held the Braves scoreless over the final seven innings to secure the series-opening win.

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STARKVILLE, Miss. — Anthony Johnson commits to Mississippi State and is the fourth defensive lineman signed out of the transfer portal for first-year head coach Jeff Lebby. One of the biggest areas of concern for the Bulldogs is their lack of experience on the defensive line, particularly in the interior.  

Johnson is a college football veteran, and this will be his fourth different program of his career. He started out at Bowling Green before transferring to Youngstown State in 2021. 

The Cleveland, Ohio native played well in his time at Youngstown. He made six starts as a junior, made 13 tackles, including 2.5 for loss, and had a sack. 

Last season, the 6-3 300-pounder had a career year with 25 tackles, 6.5 for loss, and four sacks. After his breakthrough season, he entered the transfer portal again and ended up in the Big 10. 

However, Johnson would not stay in Illinois for long as it was announced on April 13th that he was no longer with the program. MSU needed some help on the defensive line in both portal cycles, and this is the most productive defensive lineman they have signed, albeit at a lower level. 

Mississippi State defensive line coach David Turner is notorious for his development of players, so the Bulldogs hope the veteran coach can work some magic on Johnson.