One team’s misery can be another team’s joy. Mississippi State was leading 10-3. The Bulldogs would win 11-5 and sweep the Rebels. The Bulldogs now have won 14 of 16 matches against arch-rivals, including all four this year. You might be wondering when was the last Ole Miss sweep at Oxford-University Stadium. It would have been 2017, when State last visited here. Oxford was the last time State won six consecutive baseball games. This would have been 1950. Truman was the president. Bear Bryant won 11 games at Kentucky. Jake Mangum, a senior at the state, has participated in 16 of those 16 games. He has played. He has hit. Mangum, who has scored 16 runs in 16 games against the Rebels over his career, has hit.424. It seems like every one of his 25 hits against Ole Miss has led to runs. Fly balls have also been run over Trustmark Park, Oxford-University, and Dudy Noble. When asked about State’s dominance over Ole Miss, he replied “Just competing.” “Some people will say that this is just another weekend series within the SEC. It’s not. This is a huge state. It’s huge. It’s huge. “You should know that we don’t have any professional teams in this state. Ole Mississippi State, is the best. People care. People care. My father played football for Alabama. For his entire career, he was 4 and 0 against Auburn. It still bothers him. It was something I did not want. Over the four years Ole Miss won many baseball games and was often ranked nationally, including two seasons of 40-win seasons. Yet, State still owns the Rebels in the same way that the Washington Senators owned the New York Yankees. Although baseball can be funny and streaky, there is no explanation for 14-2. Ole Miss was rated No. The nation’s No. 1 recruiting class. This class is currently 1-11 against Bulldogs. Ole Miss shortstop Grae Kesselinger was one of the prizes in that class. He is a man who will make a fortune playing this sport and was asked about State’s dominance. He just shook his head. He said, “I wish that I knew the answer.” It’s frustrating, it’s true. “We just haven’t played well against them,” Kessinger performed exceedingly well this weekend. Kessinger had five hits, which increased his on-base streak by 40 games. He made a play that few mortals can make: he dived to his left, rolled over on his back, and fired a one-hopper to the first baseman to score the out. It wasn’t enough. Ole Miss seems to think that nothing is against the Bulldogs. They now stand at 42-10 overall, and 18-9 in SEC with this sweep. This observer believes that State has secured a national seed for the NCAA Tournament, while also putting a serious damper in Rebels’ hopes to host a regional. State is, in truth, a College World Series team and a contender for the national championship. As a team, the Bulldogs ranked.316. Jake Mangum is the Bulldogs’ best place-setter. They are all over the lineup. Ethan Small and JT Tinn, Friday-Saturday starters for the Bulldogs, are shining. The team’s earned run average of 3.48 is impressive. Peyton Plumlee was a great start for the Bulldogs, picking up his fifth win against three losses. State’s infield defense may not be the best, but it isn’t terrible. Chris Lemonis, the Bulldogs’ first-year coach, stated that “We didn’t play very well defensively this weekend but we’ve been really great most of the year.” State compensates for its shortcomings at the plate. The Bulldogs are able to score runs in big numbers. For example, Saturday’s seventh inning saw six runs scored on five hits. Sunday’s fourth inning saw nine runs scored by the Bulldogs. All of this was with just two outs and a series line drives. Lemonis stated, “We’ve done it all year.” Lemonis said, “We’ve done that all year.”