You can count me among the few — maybe that’s what makes it so special. Baseball is like no other sport. We learn that we are not always able to understand something we thought we understood. This is Mississippi college baseball. Go ahead. Take a look around. Let’s take a look. With several key players back, Mississippi State entered the season as the defending college baseball champion. Ole Miss was ranked No.1 with its lineup of proven sluggers. This season, Ole Miss was ranked No. 1 in the country in March. After losing its three top pitchers last season, Southern Miss fell to a disappointing 10-6 record, following a loss to Dallas Baptist in March. We are now in April and Southern Miss is No. The team is currently ranked No. 4 in the country and has a school record 15 game win streak going into UAB’s weekend series. Ole Miss, which has been 9-0 and 12-1, is now 14-17 and could be out of the SEC Tournament. Mississippi State is currently at 24-18. There is much to be done – and very little time – to make it to the NCAA field. Most college baseball experts rank Southern Miss as a high-seed national seed. You were right if you had predicted this in mid-March. Nobody else did. Let’s look at the standings of all three teams heading into the final month of the regular season. We’ll start at Southern Miss where Scott Berry may have the greatest team in school history. Southern Miss is currently 33-8 overall, and 16-2 in Conference USA’s last season. RPI for the Golden Eagles is now at No. 10. Perhaps more impressive than the 15-game winning streak overall is the fact that Southern Miss has won 12 consecutive road games. A 15-7 record against ranked teams in the top 100 RPI-wise is also a hallmark of the Eagles. Southern Miss has won more games against college competition than Tennessee. Southern Miss must stay hot throughout May and June. Recent injuries could make this difficult. Reese Ewing is a left fielder who was a productive.304 hitter and had 29 runs batted-in and eight home runs. He could be out for two to three more weeks. Slade Wilks, designated hitter (.319 with six homers and 15 doubles), has missed four games due to a strained left oblique muscle. He should be back soon. Berry’s team has been able to survive because of their pitching – three great weekend starters and a deep, skilled bullpen. Berry, who is expected to become the Golden Eagles’ all-time winningest manager this weekend, understands how fast all of that can change in baseball. If he fails to do so, Berry can look north towards Starkville and Oxford. Both Ole Miss, and State needed to be on the right track heading into Tuesday’s Governor’s Cup and last weekend’s Ole Miss State weekend series. Both didn’t. They split the four games and won two each. However, they still have a lot of work ahead of them in the month to come. Let’s start with Ole Miss. The Rebels are currently 23-17 overall and 6-12 in SEC (behind only Missouri), and have a No. The Rebels have a 62 RPI record and a 7-14 record against the Top 100 RPI teams. What’s the story? What has happened? They’re not in a rut, but they’re struggling. They still have 14 games to play, with three of them starting at Arkansas. They must win the series, which is a tough task. Also, they need to win the SEC series against Missouri (home), LSU (at home) and Texas A&M (at home). This would allow the Rebels to easily enter the SEC Tournament, and increase their RPI into the NCAA Tournament range. An RPI boost is also possible with a May 11 non-conference road game at Southern Miss. Bottom line: Ole Miss has very little room for error. Mississippi State is part of that leaking boat. The Bulldogs have a record of 24-18 and 8-10 in SEC. They are ranked No. They have a No. 81 RPI, and an 11-15 record against the Top 100 teams. None of this is NCAA Tournament worthy, and State must make a quick turnaround in order to be able to defend its national title. The Bulldogs still have 14 games, including road series against Missouri, Texas A & M, and home series against Florida, and Tennessee. Midweek games at Samford and North Alabama are remaining for the Dogs. The Bulldogs have a great opportunity to improve their NCAA record with this weekend’s series against Florida and a regular season ending series with Tennessee (currently at a ridiculous 38-3). They may be in dire need of it.