STARKVILLE — Mississippi State is two wins from advancing to the College World Series for the third straight postseason.
The No. 7 seed Bulldogs (43-15) are hosting the No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (33-11) in the super regional round of the NCAA Tournament. Game 1 is Saturday at 1 p.m. CT (ESPN).
Notre Dame won its three regional games by a combined score of 50-5. The Irish hit 15 home runs, including five by Golden Spikes Award semifinalist Niko Kavadas.
Notre Dame players have also said they felt slighted at dropping out of the top eight national seeds and come in with a chip on their shoulders after thinking they'd be hosting a super regional series.
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This is what Mississippi State must do to come out on top to secure another trip to Omaha.
Solid starts from MacLeod, Bednar
The series hinges largely on the shoulders of Mississippi State's two starters.
Freshmen Christian MacLeod and Will Bednar have to give MSU coach Chris Lemonis solid starts like they did in the regional round. Saving the bullpen in a series like this is of the utmost importance.
Bednar throwing seven innings in the first game of the regional and MacLeod going past the fifth in the second allowed Lemonis to save his two most trusted arms out of the pen for the third game, which turned out to be a one-run nail-biter.
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Houston Harding dazzled in an extended relief outing in the regional final, and Landon Sims did his thing in recording the final nine outs. Every pitch he made was with a one-run lead.
Harding and Sims closing out the regional was made possible by Bednar and MacLeod being as good as they were Friday and Saturday. Whichever one of that duo starts Saturday can get the series off on the right note for MSU if he can pitch deep into the game and emerge victorious.
Can Kamren James stay hot?
Mississippi State takes its offense to another level when Kamren James ishot. He was in the regional round, and Mississippi State scored no less than six runs in the three games as a result.
James, who hits third behind Rowdey Jordan and Tanner Allen, was named MVP of the Starkville Regional. He went 5-for-13 with seven RBIs. James finished the regional with back-to-back multi-hit games. Before that, he had one multi-hit game in his last 12.
It was the kind of production Lemonis has been waiting for out of James to bridge Jordan and Allen with Luke Hanco*ck, who hits fourth, and Logan Tanner at five.
Brad Cumbest and Kellum Clark showed signs of power hitting in the back half of the lineup, too. They hit back-to-back home runs in the second game of theregional.
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When James is seeing the ball and swinging confidently, Mississippi State is capable of scoring enough to hang with any team left standing. He's the glue that can keep the Bulldog batting order together during the rest of the postseason.
Houston, do we have a starter?
It's entirely possible Mississippi State loses one of the first two games. If that happens, will Lemonis turn to Harding to start a decisive Game 3?
Harding essentially started the regional-clinching game against Campbell. He entered the game with one out in the first and didn't leave until the sixth. Lemonis likes Harding as a safety valve out of the bullpen, but he just might have to turn to him as a starter to reach his second CWS with MSU in as many tries.
The last time Lemonis started Harding, it didn't go well, though. He allowed six runs, four earned, in a loss to Missouri, but Harding has started four other times this season, most notably in a win over TCU during opening weekend. In those four games, Harding pitched 16⅔ innings while only allowing one earned run.
If MacLeod or Bednar are not able to come through, Mississippi State's season could hang on a Harding start Monday night. His left hand isn't the worst one for the Bulldogs to have hope in.
Contact Tyler Horka at thorka@gannett.com. Follow @tbhorka on Twitter. To read more of Tyler's work, subscribe to the Clarion Ledger today!
