After going 37-22 in the regular season and SEC Tournament, Mississippi State was placed in the Lafayette regional, home of the Louisiana Lafayette Rajin' Cajuns, as a 2 seed. UL Lafayette is 53-7 on the year and was named the number 6 overall national seed. The Bulldogs won't have to deal with ULL in their first matchup though, Mississippi State will have to face off against San Diego State, the 3 seed in the Lafayette regional.
San Diego State is 42-19 on the year, they won a big series in the regular season against UC Irvine, and the Aztecs won the Mountain West tournament. They are a good team, but they may be tired after playing six games in the Mountain West conference tournament.
UL Lafayette's first matchup is against another Mississippi team, 4 seed Jackson State. JSU is 31-23 on the year, the SWAC tournament champions, but series losses versus Alcorn State (JSU lost two series to them) and Mississippi Valley State shows their true colors, and they shouldn't be any problem for UL Lafayette.
Finally, let's talk about the host, the Rajin' Cajuns of Louisiana Lafayette. UL Lafayette has an isnane record of 53-7 (Mississippi State notched 51 wins last season, including the postseason), they went 26-4 in the Sun Belt conference, easily handled the Sun Belt tournament championship, outscoring their opponents in the tournament by a combined 28-15 and has a series victory over Alabama and a 4-1 midweek victory versus LSU, the number 8 national seed and SEC tournament champions. Although the name is small, UL Lafayette is a for real team, and each team in this regional has to give it their very best to knock them out.
One more thing to note, the Lafayette regional is matched up with none other than the Oxford regional, of course hosted by the Mississippi Rebels, so there is a possibility that Mississippi State can travel to Oxford and battle the Rebels for a shot at Omaha.
The Bulldogs and the Aztecs of San Diego State will battle on Friday, May 30th at 1:00 PM on ESPN3 as the opening game of the regional.
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