Bubbles were rising from beyond the outfield wall when Dakota Jordan, with his jersey already torn off by teammates, had a frigid Gatorade tub dumped on his back. Amid the sound of more than 16,000 fans gathered at Dudy Noble Field, Mississippi State baseball celebrated a walk-off victory against rival Ole Miss.

It was a disappointing mid-April afternoon for the Rebels and an exhilarating one for their rivals, but the day provided another reminder of the prominence of college baseball in the Magnolia State. The announced attendance of 16,423 set an NCAA on-campus record.

“A fun day at the park,” MSU coach Chris Lemonis called it postgame.

A week before, about 130 miles away, a different in-state matchup took place. The Mississippi Braves were at Trustmark Park in Pearl hosting the Biloxi Shuckers.

However, the excitement couldn’t counter what the SEC programs in the state were about to deliver. The Saturday night matchup drew a crowd of 2,678.

Mississippi State and Ole Miss, two programs that failed to make the postseason last year, averaged more than 10,000 fans per game.

The collegiate teams in the state have unlocked sustained success on the field and in the stands. Meanwhile, the Braves and Shuckers averaged 2,545 and 2,440 fans, respectively, in 2023. Those were the two worst figures among 30 Double-A organizations. At the end of the 2024 campaign, the Braves will move to Columbus, Georgia.

Mississippi loves its college baseball

All of the benchmarks used to quantify on-field misery agree: Ole Miss’ 2023 season was its worst since 1997. The Rebels won six out of 30 SEC games, finished below. 500 overall and failed to qualify for any form of postseason.

Still, according to coach Mike Bianco, Ole Miss sold over 8,000 season tickets this offseason ‒ its second-largest total ever. Oxford-University Stadium’s listed capacity is 11,477 with roughly 6,900 chairbacks.

“There’s places that they win a lot and they don’t draw half the people we draw,” Bianco told the Clarion Ledger. “... That’s really the trump card. People go, ‘Is it winning, or is it baseball?’ People love baseball here in Mississippi.”

The Bulldogs joined the Rebels in the SEC’s bottom two in 2023 – residing there for a second consecutive season. Still, they finished second nationally in average attendance, drawing 10,404 fans. Ole Miss followed in fourth with 9,361.

In Hattiesburg, Southern Miss bucked the losing trend with a super regional appearance. The Golden Eagles packed an average of 5,300 fans into Pete Taylor Park, which officially seats just 4,300. Their last full season without a postseason came in 2015. Then, they posted an average attendance of 2,670 which ranked second in Conference USA and 24th nationally.

Thanks to a mixture of winning, tradition and sustained intent, college baseball in Mississippi has arrived at a place where an isolated spurt of losing doesn't tank interest − at least in the form of paid attendance numbers.

"It just keeps growing, and now it's a real sense of pride in our state," Lemonis said.

How college baseball got here

Ron Polk built Mississippi State into one of the nation's attendance titans, and the driving force was winning, he told the Clarion Ledger. Polk guided MSU to a 1,139-590 record across two tenures.

The Bulldogs had no marketing representative for baseball when Polk first arrived in 1976. When one was assigned and suggested minor league-style gimmicks, Polk hated it.

“He came in my office one day and said, ‘You know, we may need to think about giving things away,’ ” Polk recalled. “All kinds of things just to make the game an even better experience with fans. I said, ‘Nope, not interested. Just tell them when the game starts.’ ”

Eventually, Polk relented and allowed a small promotion involving the game program.

Similarly, Bianco’s early Ole Miss teams proved transformational to the program’s fortunes. The Rebels, with two regional appearances in the 20 seasons before his arrival, immediately returned to the postseason. In 23 full seasons with Bianco at the helm, Ole Miss has made 19 trips to the NCAA Tournament.

That was the foundation for the interest. But scaling that into what exists today required further efforts, he said. Even after 10 years of success, he was still struck by the number of Oxford natives he met who had never been to Swayze Field.

“You go around and speak at different civic organizations in an hour-and-a-half radius asking people just to check it out,” Bianco said. “It’s not like all of a sudden you’re going to wake up and there’s going to be 10,000 people in the stands.”

Some of the state’s enthusiasm for college baseball is rooted in a sense of community, too. Scott Berry, who retired last year after a legendary coaching career at Southern Miss, enjoyed great success building a program using homegrown talent. Twenty-three players from last year’s super regional squad hailed from the Magnolia State.

Mississippi State’s 2024 roster includes 14 Mississippi natives, and three players from Starkville High School or Starkville Academy. The Rebels currently roster 17 players from Mississippi, and two from Oxford High School.

“We’ve been able to attract that in-state student-athlete to our program for a number of years,” Berry said. “And they’ve been good players and certainly have held their own on a national spotlight, and have continued to professional ball from there. When you have a fanbase that recognizes those names from around the state, certainly it seems to excite them a little bit more and draw the interest level a little higher.”

It’s an organic, grassroots base that Minor League Baseball can’t match. Fifty-nine players passed through the revolving door onto the Braves’ roster last season. Only one − Brandon Parker, of Hattiesburg − was from Mississippi.

BRAVES MOVING: Mississippi Braves are leaving Mississippi, Trustmark Park. See where they are headed

Minor League Baseball's obstacles in Mississippi

While they’ve remained an affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, the Mississippi Braves were sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings in December 2021. The decision by DBH to move the team to Columbus, Georgia, aligns with the Atlanta Braves’ consolidation of its affiliates.

The High-A Rome Braves and Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers are based in Georgia, while the Single-A Augusta Green Jackets are in nearby North Augusta, South Carolina.

However, fan attraction was likely part of the decision to leave Mississippi. The attendance numbers did not reflect a marketing department that lacked ideas. This season, nearly every game at Trustmark Park – starting Tuesday against Biloxi – features a giveaway or promotion.

Loyd Allen is a 69-year-old Ole Miss fan from Byram who spent six years working as an usher at Trustmark Park. While he’s disappointed the team is departing, he’s gotten a first-hand look at the struggles.

“I figured it was probably coming,” Allen said. “They just can’t get the crowds.”

Polk believes there are numerous key factors in the lack of fan interest.

Weather is among those. Pending any postseason hosting rights, the collegiate baseball season ends in May. The Braves play from April to September, with the heart of their season taking place during the scorching heat of a Mississippi summer.

Interest in, and hatred of, opposing teams is also worth considering. When LSU comes to Starkville or Oxford, there’s a rivalry that drives fans to the ballpark.

“Who follows the Montgomery Biscuits?” Polk said. “When we play LSU, they follow it. When we play Ole Miss, they follow it.”

There’s also the overarching desire toward winning. The minor leagues have a postseason, but for players the goal is to move up when September arrives. For Southern Miss, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, the end of the season often holds championship aspirations that carry worthwhile bragging rights.

“I don’t think people following a little bit of minor league baseball get the Jackson Clarion Ledger to look at the standings,” Polk said. “They do it for Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss.”

Southern Miss beat writer Sam Sklar contributed to this story.

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. David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on X @davideckert98.

Mississippi Braves home opener

Tuesday night marks the final home opener for the Mississippi Braves, when they play host to their in-state rivals — the Biloxi Shuckers. The Braves have announced plans to move to Georgia at the conclusion of the season, leaving Jackson without professional baseball.

When: 6:05 p.m.

Where: Trustmark Park, Pearl

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Why baseball-obsessed Mississippi's Minor League franchises struggling