STARKVILLE — Three weeks have changed the trajectory of the Mississippi State baseball season.

The Bulldogs were not projected to make the NCAA tournament when coach Chris Lemonis was fired on April 28. MSU (34-20) won nine of its last 10 games of the regular season under interim coach Justin Parker and is now firmly projected to be in the NCAA tournament.

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Mississippi State drew a No. 11 seed in the SEC tournament and will play No. 14 Texas A&M (28-25) in the first round in Hoover, Alabama, on May 20 (8 p.m., SEC Network). The winner will play No. 6 Auburn (38-17) on May 21 (8 p.m., SEC Network).

Here’s a look at MSU’s NCAA tournament projections before the SEC tournament.

Mississippi State baseball NCAA tournament projections

D1Baseball projects Mississippi State as a No. 3 seed in the Tallahassee Regional with Florida State as the host. West Virginia is the No. 2 seed with Bethune-Cookman the No. 4 seed.

Aria Gerson of the Tennessean lists MSU as a No. 2 seed in the Atlanta Regional. Georgia Tech is the host, with Austin Peay the No. 3 seed and Eastern Illinois the No. 4 seed.

Mississippi State NCAA tournament resume

Mississippi State’s RPI is up to No. 30 after it swept Missouri, its highest since the start of the season.

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The Bulldogs are 8-17 in Quad 1 games, 3-2 in Quad 2 and 23-1 in Quads 3 and 4.

The Texas A&M SEC tournament game is slated to be Quad 2.

Mississippi State baseball NCAA tournament history under Justin Parker

Mississippi State doesn’t have an NCAA tournament history with Parker as head coach, but it had mixed results under Lemonis.

It peaked twice with two College World Series appearances in 2019 and 2021. The Bulldogs won the national championship in 2021. There was no NCAA tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The Bulldogs made the postseason only one other time in Lemonis’ seven-year tenure. It was last season when they lost to Virginia in the Charlottesville Regional.

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State baseball: NCAA tournament projections for Justin Parker