When Mississippi State University’s 2022 season started in February, there were very high hopes placed upon the Diamond Dawgs coming off of their first national championship in school history.
More than halfway through the season, the Bulldogs sit at 18-15 on the season with a 4-8 record in the SEC— that’s the worst in the West and tied for second-worst in the conference as a whole. They have played three ranked opponents, including Arkansas and Georgia but still have a difficult slate ahead of them. 
What exactly has been wrong with the Diamond Dawgs? At this point, pretty much everything. The pitching staff has been plagued by big injuries to stars Landon Sims and Stone Simmons, and only about half of the bullpen have been reliable in crucial situations. When MSU does well on the mound, the offense can’t seem to help out. The team might be one the best in the nation at hitting home runs, but simple base hits have been hard to find. Even in situations with runners on base and no outs, the Bulldogs have struggled to put a crooked number on the scoreboard.
Currently, MSU has an RPI in the 80s. Of their 18 victories, only four have been against quadrant one teams— meaning the Bulldogs haven’t kept up with the very best squads. Luckily, the team remains a near-perfect 11-1 in quadrant four games and has had only a few bad performances against teams they are expected to beat. 
MSU has a crucial matchup against Auburn this coming weekend, followed by a visit to Oxford to take on the Ole Miss Rebels next. The other four SEC matchups remaining include Missouri, Florida, Texas A&M and Tennessee. 
The Diamond Dawgs will have a great shot at hosting a regional if they sweep every remaining SEC series— but that’s not likely at all. Realistically, sweeps against Missouri and Texas A&M are must-haves, as are series victories against Auburn and Ole Miss. They also need to pick up a victory in the Governor’s Cup against Ole Miss. The Bulldogs can likely afford series losses to either Florida or Tennessee but need at least three wins in those six games. If that scenario works out, the final SEC record for MSU will be 18-13. Any victories in the SEC Tournament will also be important…if they make it that far. 
One last question remains: how can MSU make this happen? MSU has to find a solid weekend rotation on the mound. Cade Smith and Preston Johnson have proven themselves, but that third spot remains a mystery. The Bulldogs have to be careful about who they pull from the bullpen to take that spot because that could mean a trusted reliever is now gone. Defensively, the team has been outstanding most of the time, but the shortstop position is still up for grabs between Lane Forsythe and Tanner Leggett. 
Offense is something that is only sometimes there for MSU. At this point in the season, it might be worth it to sacrifice a bit of defense for stronger offensive players. There doesn’t need to be a stretch of players in the lineup who are unreliable to bring in runs, no matter how good they are at any position on the field. The Diamond Dawgs are rarely going to win games when they score three or fewer runs, and that’s what they’ve been doing in SEC play. 
The odds are stacked against MSU, but if there is anything that fans know, it’s that anything can happen in baseball. Don’t count out the Diamond Dawgs until the last out of the season is recorded.