STARKVILLE — Jarrod Parks and Nick Vickerson know the importance of home-field advantage.
Parks and Vickerson led the Mississippi State baseball team to the 2011 Gainesville (Fla.) Super Regional against Southeastern Conference foe Florida. MSU, which won the Atlanta (Ga.) Regional a week earlier, lost to Florida 11-1 in Game 1. But Vickerson hit a two-run, walk-off home run with Parks on first base to lift the Bulldogs to a 4-3 victory in Game 2 to force a Game 3 at McKethan Stadium. The Bulldogs led 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning and were eight outs away from their first appearance in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, since 2007.
Unfortunately, Preston Tucker hit a three-run home run to right field off Caleb Reed to help the Gators win 8-6 and move on to the College World Series. Parks still thinks about that super regional and wonders how different it would have been if it had been at Dudy Noble Field.
“I think if we take the field then with 15,000 fans on their feet, I don’t think they come back and hit that three-run bomb to go ahead,” Parks said.
The 2016 Bulldogs won’t have to worry about playing on the road. By earning a No. 6 national seed in the NCAA tournament, the first in school history, MSU will play host to a regional and a super regional if it advances. This is the 13th time the Bulldogs will play host to a regional, and first since 2013
Top-seeded and No. 4 MSU (41-16-1) will try to take that first step when it takes on fourth-seeded Southeast Missouri State (39-19) at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Dudy Noble Field.
Second-seeded Cal State Fullerton (35-21) will take on third-seeded Louisiana Tech (40-18) in the second game Friday.
The Starkville Regional is paired with the Lafayette (Louisiana) Regional (Louisiana-Lafayette, Arizona, Sam Houston State and Princeton) for a super regional.
Vickerson, who went 2-for-5 with four RBIs in that Game 3 against Florida in 2011, also has vivid memories of the super regional.
“I think about it quite a bit, especially now that my career’s over,” Vickerson said. “It’s easy to sit around and kind of reminisce on good days. I have such a passion for the game and I love Mississippi State, so I think about it quite often, especially at times like this when you see those guys getting ready to make a similar run.”
Parks and Vickerson, who were teammates from 2010-11, have kept up with the program since they’ve left. Both played minor league baseball before giving it up. Parks was hired to lead the Starkville Academy program last summer, while Vickerson worked for a real estate company in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He watched his younger brother, Jake, play for MSU from 2014-15.
Playing host to a regional or a super regional always is a topic of conversation for MSU fans, but talk about a national seed is a new trend. Vickerson believed the goal was achievable after MSU earned a series win at LSU. The series victory came after Texas A&M swept MSU in Starkville.
“I think that really showed us who they were as a team,” Vickerson said. “They were on top and then they got punched in the mouth. I think that showed a lot about who they were.”
After the LSU series win, Parks felt like the schedule set up nicely for MSU to gain a national seed. MSU swept Missouri, Auburn, and Arkansas to lock up a national seed.
MSU didn’t host a super regional in 2013 when it advanced to the College World series and finished as national runner-up to UCLA.
Vickerson hopes he will be able to make it to Starkville this weekend to be a part of the atmosphere and the packed house at Dudy Noble Field.
“We all know Starkville is one of the best places to play college baseball in the country, if not the best,” Vickerson said. “If you can have some confidence going into the postseason, it really helps you. I think being at home and being in front of your home fans, that’s going to give you all the confidence you need. It’s a special feeling, and I’m excited for those guys.”
Parks knows MSU coach John Cohen and the Bulldogs are focused on Southeast Missouri State. He also realizes the current players will need a little time to recognize the significance of their accomplishments this season.
Parks expects to be part of the crowd at Dudy Noble Field. As he mingles with what could be 15,000 of his closest friends, he likely will think back to 2011 and what could have been. But he’ll know the 2016 Bulldogs won’t have to face the same adversity he and Vickerson did.
“That’s where it’s going to be huge, in those clutch moments, those big-time moments when you need a crowd,” Parks said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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