Mississippi State, 20th nationally in the regular season in team ERA, gave up double-digits in back-to-back Super Regional losses to Georgia, and Year 1 under Brian O’Connor came to an end without a trip to Omaha.
Damn shame.
O’Connor left Virginia this time last year after 22 seasons, and seven trips to the College World Series, after Mississippi State more than doubled his salary, offering O’Connor a four-year deal paying him $2.9 million a year.
ICYMI: O’Connor leaves for Starkville
He took, most notably, lefty ace Tomas Valincius (11-2, 3.50 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 134 Ks/20BBs in 97.2 IP) with him to Starkville.
Valincius was gifted a 7-0 lead in Game 1 of the Super Regional on Saturday, but he gave up five runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth before getting the hook – final line in the 13-12 loss: 4.1 IP, seven runs, all earned, eight hits, four Ks, one walk.
Mississippi State (43-18) was the one falling behind big in Game 2 on Sunday before making it interesting, storming all the way back from a 7-2 deficit to tie the game at 9-9 in the eighth on a two-run homer from Jacob Parker.
Georgia (50-12) got back on top in the ninth on a two-run Daniel Jackson homer, and got the last out, with two on and two out, on a strikeout of Parker.
O’Connor at least took his first MSU team to an NCAA Tournament. His final team at Virginia was a consensus Top 5 pick in the preseason, on the heels of back-to-back trips to Omaha, but got shut out of the postseason, as rumors swirled about the aggressive pursuit from the folks at Mississippi State over the final month of the 2025 season.
By the way: Ole Miss (41-21) is headed to the World Series, after a two-game sweep of Auburn.
Damn shame.
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Chris Graham
