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Diamond Dawgs and Rebels Travel to Hoover for SEC Tournament
The 2025 NCAA Baseball postseason is upon us, and all 16 teams in the SEC travel to Hoover, Ala. for the annual SEC Tournament.
With the new additions to the conference in Texas and Oklahoma, the tournament format is now a 16-team single elimination with the top 4 teams getting a double bye and seeds 5-8 will get one bye.
The tournament kicked off earlier today as ninth-seeded Alabama took down 16-seed Missouri 4-1. For the two teams in the Magnolia State, the results of this tournament will significantly impact where they are placed for the NCAA Tournament.
Mississippi State claimed the 11th seed after sweeping Missouri last weekend on the road to bring their overall conference record to 15-15. As they ride a five-game winning streak, they are set to face off against 14th-seeded Texas A&M (11-19) at approximately 8 p.m. at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on SEC Network. The game will begin 30 minutes after the Florida-South Carolina matchup, which begins at 4:30 p.m. The two teams have not faced off yet this season.
Starting on the mound tonight for the Bulldogs is Ryan McPherson, who makes his second start of the season as a freshman. In 17 appearances this year for the Diamond Dawgs, McPherson has thrown for 49 strikeouts over 32 2/3 innings and has accumulated a 4-0 record with a pair of saves as well. Teams that have faced McPherson have only hit .176 against him. The Bulldogs likely won’t host a Regional, but will still make the field to fight for their second College World Series title in program history.
Meanwhile, the Ole Miss Rebels finished the regular season out strong with a road series win over sixth-ranked Auburn, claiming the first two out of three games. The Rebs finished with a 16-14 conference record and took the seventh seed in the 2025 SEC Baseball Tournament. They will face the winner of 10th-seeded Florida and 15th-seeded South Carolina on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. on SEC Network.
These games will be important for Ole Miss as they will fight for a potential spot to host a Regional in Oxford as well as its first tournament appearance since the 2022 season, when they went on a legendary Cinderella run to win the 2022 College World Series, the program’s first ever. They will very likely make the field, but these games may impact NCAA Tournament seeding significantly.
