PEARL — It was a quiet, somber ride back to Starkville from Oxford three weeks ago.

Mississippi State baseball, fresh off its first series loss to rival Ole Miss since 2015, boarded its maroon bus and took the 100-mile trek with uncertainty in its future.

Sure, the Bulldogs could flush the loss and earn their first NCAA tournament bid since 2021. But was that enough for the storied program that won its first national title three years ago? Are they happy going on the road for a regional?

It was time for them. to reflect on what they wanted to achieve this season.

“I remember just going home sick,” Dakota Jordan said. “Just sick to my stomach.”

A different feeling awaited Mississippi State (30-15) when it went on the 130-mile trip from Trustmark Park home to Starkville after a 5-1 Governor’s Cup win over Ole Miss on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs got to celebrate a season split with their rival. Amid studying for final exams that await Thursday morning, they can look ahead to larger aspirations than what it carried home from Oxford.

MSU has a chance to host postseason play at Dudy Noble Field. While the win against Ole Miss (23-21) doesn’t count toward the SEC standings, it’s a top-30 victory in the RPI — a metric used to determine the postseason field — that improves the likelihood of Mississippi State staying home for the NCAA tournament.

“We talk about it every day,” Jordan said.

If the Bulldogs need a reminder of why earning a top-16 seed is so important, they’ll likely get it this weekend.

Mississippi State opens a three-game series with Alabama (28-16, 9-12 SEC) on Friday (6 p.m., SEC Network+). It’s a chance to collect more top-20 RPI wins and a chance to move up the SEC West standings, where right now the Bulldogs are third behind Texas A&M and Arkansas.

MSU has gotten crowds north of 10,000 at its regular-season games with ease — even in the previous two years in which the Bulldogs combined for 18 SEC wins. Coach Chris Lemonis expects this series to be no different.

“It should be a packed house at The Dude, I would imagine, this weekend,” Lemonis said. “We’re looking forward to it.”

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He coined the term “The Dude Effect” to praise the impact Mississippi State’s often record-breaking crowds have on opposing teams. To have that factor into postseason games, Mississippi State had to flush a difficult weekend in Oxford.

The Bulldogs have won eight of nine games since.

They feel like a rejuvenated program leaving Pearl. Riding that momentum, MSU has a chance to bring June baseball back to Starkville. A taste of that is coming after the midweek victory against Ole Miss.

“Our park is arguably one of the toughest to play in, in the whole country,” Lemonis said. “I hope it’s loud. I hope it’s packed.”

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: What win vs. Ole Miss means for hosting