OMAHA, Neb.— They did it. They really did it. Theyfinallydid it.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs are College World Series champions. Read it again. Read it aloud. Scribble it on your hands and paint it on your garage door and go to your local grocery store to spell it out in produce.
It's true.
They did it.This teamdid it. The team that had to endure a year of COVID-19 precautions. The team that didn't know for certain if it'd be able to play a full season because of those COVID-19 precautions. The team that had to navigate the toughest, stickiest and most stressful season in college baseball history.
"It's been a long year," Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis said."It's just been a long year with COVID. It's been a long year with restrictions. It's just been really tough. And to see our guys come out the back side of this as champions is very special."
No team in Mississippi State baseball history had to go through what this team did. And no team achieved what this one did. It's impossible to understate that point.
HIGHLIGHTS:Vanderbilt vs. Mississippi State baseball video highlights, score in the CWS finals Game 3
HOW IT HAPPENED:How Mississippi State baseball nearly no-hit Vanderbilt in College World Series final: Inning by inning
WATCH:See Mississippi State baseball get final out, celebrate school's first national championship at CWS
Think of the teams that came before this. The 1971 team that won Mississippi State's first College World Series game. The 1979 team that brought Ron Polk to Omaha for the first time. The 1981, 1985 and 1990 teams that couldn't finish the job. The 1989 team that probably could've if it got out of regionals. The 1997 and 1998 teams that made it out of loaded SEC Wests. The 2007 team that made it back and the 2013 team that made it even closer.
The coaching tumult turned into beauty in 2018. The unbelievably talented team that got oh-so-close in 2019. The team COVID-19 eliminated in 2020.
It all built to the team that did it. The team that walked off five times. The team that won four elimination games in four tries. The team that started the College World Series by setting a single-game strikeout record, followed that with an eighth-inning comeback for the ages, came back two games later with a walk-off single and then won two elimination games by a combined 22-2 score to knock off the defending national champions.
Some teams just have it. This was one of them.
"This team overcame everything, man," senior Tanner Allen said."From getting swept at home in front of 10,000 versus Arkansas to Missouri coming in and taking a series from us and then getting embarrassed at the SEC Tournament we just kept playing, and kept playing and playing. You blink an eye, we're national champions."
It's impossible to talk about this team without starting with Allen. Helogged nine hits, scored eight runs and drove in four in the College World Series.
Then talk about All-American Landon Sims, who closed four of Mississippi State's five wins in the College World Series, posting a 0.90 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 10 innings along the way.
Then talk about College World Series Most Outstanding Player and future first-round MLB pick Will Bednar, who played a College World Series that would've impressed Madison Bumgarner or Randy Johnson. Bednar threw 18⅓innings, allowing three runs on five hits with 26 strikeouts and leading his Bulldogs to three victories. Oh yeah, he didn't give up a hit in six innings in the College World Series championship game.
There's no separating this team from its historical context. It's not the first Mississippi State team that could've won a national title. It's just the first team that did. It was always bound to happen. Now it has.
Let's put it this way: Fifteen minutes after Kamren James fielded Parker Noland's bunt down the third-base line and threw to Luke Hanco*ck for the final out, TD Ameritrade Park was still more than 70% full and the College World Series officials couldn't begin their trophy ceremony. Mississippi State's players and coaches were still galavanting around the outfield, celebrating with the fans in the stands and the few who broke through security to get onto the playing field.
Every fan was on his or her feet. As Mississippi State's coaches and players were introduced one by one to be given their replica trophies, each Bulldog got his own ovation. When the championship trophy was officially awarded to Chris Lemonis, decades of catharsis rang out from the fans on hand, along with a few dozen red and white streamers shot from confetti cannons.
A "Maroon! White!" chant rung out as Queen's "We Are The Champions" played through the stadium speakers and Mississippi State took its team photo with the trophy.
For the first time, that chant and that song fit together.
It's true.
Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.
