Consider This: Mississippi Is A College Baseball State

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Mississippi loves college baseball.

This past weekend, as host of an NCAA Baseball Regional Tournament, Southern Miss battled back through the loser’s bracket to knock out LSU and earn hosting duties for a Super Regional for the first time in program history.

That’s by itself is huge. However, it is going to be an even bigger Mississippi event as Ole Miss is the other team headed to Hattiesburg after sweeping the baseball regional in Miami.

USM head coach Scott Berry and Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco know firsthand the way Mississippians support their favorite teams.

“There’s no other state that loves baseball more than the state of Mississippi. You can look at total attendance for all three schools in our state versus the big three schools of any other state and it’s not even close. This state is passionate about baseball,” said Coach Berry.

Coach Bianco talked about the Ole Miss, Southern Miss matchup earlier this season saying, “I think we broke the attendance record last time we were there about a month ago.” He’s right. More than 6,000 fans filled the stadium at Pete Taylor Park, setting a record.

Mississippi State, with its history of strong teams, won the national baseball championship last year.

Ole Miss was ranked #1 in the country earlier this year and Southern Miss climbed into the top 5. The success also extends to the community college level.

On Saturday, Pearl River Community College was crowned champion at the National Junior College World Series.

It will be electric in Hattiesburg this weekend. And one thing is for sure: when the dust settles, Mississippi will be represented yet again in the College World Series in Omaha.

Like Coach Berry said, Mississippi reigns supreme when it comes to college baseball. This Saturday afternoon, we’ll hear those two words that are so popular across our state: “Play ball!”

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