Chris Lemonis, fresh off a 4-3 loss against Missouri, entered Mississippi State baseball’s team room Saturday sporting his usual gameday attire. Wearing a maroon pullover with a matching hat, he sat down for a familiar press conference.

Last year, donning an identical outfit, Lemonis discussed a loss against Texas A&M that ended the Bulldogs’ regular season. This year, he did the same with the defeat against Missouri, but his words came with a different outlook.

The defeat to the Aggies ended the Bulldogs’ season short of the postseason for a second straight year.

The loss against the Tigers (23-32, 9-21 SEC) only ends the regular season – one he feels was good enough to bring a Starkville Regional back to the NCAA Tournament.

“We finished fifth in the SEC – the hardest league in the country,” Lemonis said. “We have the nicest facility, the biggest attendance. I think we’ve done (enough to host), we have an extra SEC win in the Governor’s Cup (vs. Ole Miss) and we’ve got work still to do in the SEC tournament.”

“I think we have a great shot,” he added. “It would shock me if we didn’t.”

Thanks to a series win against Georgia in early April, Mississippi State (36-19, 17-13) held a tiebreaker over the Bulldogs to secure the No. 5 seed for the SEC tournament. MSU and will face No. 12 seed Ole Miss (27-28) on Tuesday (8 p.m., SEC Network).

As Lemonis noted, the SEC has previously had as many as eight teams host in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. It’s unlikely more than six host this year, but he feels at least the top five teams in the conference are worthy.

The Bulldogs fall into that group and carry with them a top-25 RPI – a ranking metric the NCAA Tournament selection committee uses to help compile the field of 64.

“They make you play tough games,” Lemonis said of the SEC. “We’ve played in a lot of pressure. We’ve played in front of big crowds. I think it’s prepared us. I think that’s what’s chiseled us and made us such a tough, hard-nosed team.”

Mississippi State’s resume would be stronger had the Bulldogs prevailed in a collection of tight games. Of MSU’s 19 losses, 10 have come by one run. In five of those, Lemonis’ team held a lead in the ninth inning or later.

On the flip side, the Bulldogs have prevailed in six one-run games. They’ve avoided the worst even in shaky moments, with MSU not getting swept in the regular season for the first time since 2007.

“They’re all close,” Lemonis said. “All the games are close. They’re all tight. They’re all – things happen crazy in the games in SEC baseball. For the most part, that’s happening all across our league. It’s because the talent level is so high.”

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Plenty of uncertainty remains with the selection committee ultimately making the final choices.

What’s solidified, though, is Mississippi State baseball will be in the NCAA Tournament. After getting picked to finish in the cellar of the SEC, MSU feels capable of a deep run, regardless of where games are played.

“I wanted to help this team go to Omaha, make a regional, host a regional, host a super (regional),” third baseman Logan Kohler said. “…That’s my No. 1 goal – to win, make the team around me better and make this program the best it can be.”

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: Chris Lemonis: Mississippi State baseball should host NCAA regional