Mississippi State baseball ranked for first time since 2022 after beating LSU

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball is back in the national polls. The Bulldogs were No. 21 in the D1Baseball ranking and No. 16 in the Baseball America top 25 when the polls were released Monday.

MSU was the top unranked team receiving votes in the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll.

It's the first time Baseball America has MSU ranked since Week 2 of the 2022 season when the Bulldogs were No. 11. For D1Baseball, MSU hadn't been ranked since Week 4 that season.

Mississippi State is coming off a series victory against then-No. 2 LSU, which was capped by a 15-5 run-rule win at Dudy Noble Field on Sunday. The Bulldogs (15-6, 2-1 SEC) were led by the bats of Dakota Jordan, Hunter Hines and Aaron Downs, who combined for 14 hits and four home runs in the series.

MSU has endured a rough patch since the program won its first national title in 2021. The Bulldogs failed to make the postseason the past two seasons, and they dropped nonconference games against Air Force, Austin Peay (twice), Georgia Southern and South Alabama this year.

However, behind improved pitching, Mississippi State has worked its way back into the top 60 of the RPI − a metric used to help mold the NCAA Tournament field.

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Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @skrajisnik3.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State baseball: Bulldogs ranked after series win vs. LSU