STARKVILLE — After spending parts of five decades in the business, Mississippi State broadcaster Jim Ellis has to feel like he had seen it all.
Then along came the totally bananas season for the 2018 Mississippi State baseball team.
A year that opened with coach Andy Cannizaro resigning after three games ended with MSU falling to Oregon State in the semifinal round of the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
“It doesn’t matter how long you have been in the business, you still see something new,” Ellis said. “If you get in (a regional), you have a chance at Omaha. If everything falls exactly right, you can be there. Everyone loves the underdog story. You see a lot of those in Omaha.”
MSU’s miraculous run to baseball’s promised land ranks as the top Mississippi State sports story for 2018.
After the Bulldogs lost all three games to Southern Mississippi to stat the season, Cannizaro left the program and was replaced by interim coach Gary Henderson.
There was still precious little hope early in the season. After the season passed the midway mark, the Bulldogs stood at 14-15 overall and 2-7 in the Southeastern Conference.
The casual observer wondered if the Bulldogs would make the SEC tournament, let alone the NCAA postseason.
“The thing about this team is the guys in the locker room never gave up,” MSU outfielder Jake Mangum said. “Inside our clubhouse, everybody kept believing and doing their thing.”
In 2017, Cannizaro’s only full season with the Bulldogs saw a 40-27 overall record. MSU pulled an upset in the Southern Mississippi-hosted Hattiesburg Regional, before dropping a pair of games in the LSU-hosted Baton Rouge Super Regional.
A large enough group of players returned from that team for many to have the Bulldogs projected for Omaha when the season began.
A series win over Ole Miss at the new Dudy Noble Field began to turn the tide. Suddenly, the Bulldogs found their swagger.
Ole Miss had grabbed the headlines through the first half of the season, but when Luke Alexander hit a two-run walk-off home run in the 11th inning of the series finale, things began to shift.
The Bulldogs would fall in a series to Auburn the following weekend but suddenly the RPI projection web sites began to heat up after a Super Bulldog Weekend series sweep of Arkansas.
Alexander would then do the Rebels again with another walk-off in Pearl. A lethargic fan base was energized.
“We had so much adversity early in the season, the kids just needed something good to happen,” Henderson said. “It wasn’t like the veterans had forgotten how to win.”
The Bulldogs would later stamp an at-large berth in the regionals by sweeping Florida in the final weekend of the SEC regular season.
The SEC tournament saw an opening-round loss to LSU. The Bulldogs took that time rest up for a miracle postseason run.
After falling to Oklahoma to start the Florida State-hosted Tallahassee Regional, Elijah MacNamee — with the team down to its final strike — hit a three-run walk-off home to run to eliminated the host team.
This was also the debut of the rally banana in the MSU dugout.
From there, the Bulldogs beat Samford and Oklahoma twice to win the regional.
In the Vanderbilt-hosted Nashville Super Regional, the task was taller. However, an isolated banana here or there had to turned into an MSU fan base resembling a produce aisle.
Ellis worked well past midnight twice as MSU beat Vanderbilt two games to one in a heart-stopping super regional.
In Omaha, MSU won its first two games — just like in 2013. However, the magic faded from there.
Oregon State got the better of the Bulldogs with 12-2 and 5-2 victories.
An improbable postseason run ended with Henderson not being retained the Bulldogs finishing 39-29. To some, that kind of finish was simply bananas.
“In this sport, you always have a chance,” Ellis said. “That’s why it is so wonderful.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.