Jackson Free Press

Mississippi State traveled to Gainesville, Fla. to square off against one of the top teams in the SEC. In a series between two highly ranked teams, the Bulldogs seemed to face an uphill climb, as the University of Florida hadn’t lost at home this season and were on a 28-home game winning streak.

Florida struck down MSU in the first game 8-2 on Friday night, April 8, pushing the team's winning streak to 29 straight home wins. The Bulldogs bounced back Saturday for a 10-4 win, breaking that streak.

That left a rubber game to win the series on Sunday and the first time all season the Bulldogs needed to win the final game so they could win an SEC series this season. MSU battled its way to a http://www.hailstate.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=16800&ATCLID=210879305">2-1 win to take the series from the Gators, who in some polls were ranked No. 1 in the country.

The series win for the Diamond Dogs was the first at Florida since 2007. MSU improved to 23-9-1 on overall and 8-4 in SEC play.

By defeating Florida, the Bulldogs have now won four straight SEC series at the beginning of conference play. MSU started the week with a 14-0 win over the University of Tennessee at Martin.

In http://www.secsports.com/standings/baseball">conference play, MSU leads Texas A&M University (7-5) by a game in the SEC West standings as the Aggies come to Starkville for Super Bulldog Weekend. MSU leads Louisiana State University (6-6), the University of Alabama (6-6) and the University of Mississippi (6-6) by two games.

Overall in the SEC, MSU is tied with Florida and the University of Kentucky at 8-4 in conference play. The University of South Carolina has the best record in the conference at 10-2 and doesn’t play the Bulldogs this season.

The national polls noticed the Bulldogs' series win over the weekend.

Mississippi State moved up two spots from No. 10 to No. 8 in the http://espn.go.com/college-sports/rankings/_/pollId/9/sportId/10031000">USA Today Baseball Top 25 Coaches Poll.

http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=12330">Perfectgame.org moved them up from No. 8 to No. 3 in its poll.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/college-top-25-april-11/#o4E0b3xHZmbyYz2x.97">Baseball America and http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/baseball/d1/d1baseballcom-top-25">D1Baseball.com pushed MSU from No. 5 all the way to No. 2 in their new polls.

While the new rankings are great for the Bulldogs, players, coaches and fans need to remember that baseball is a marathon and not a sprint. MSU still has some http://www.hailstate.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=16800&SPID=10993&SPSID=90858">big games and series left this season.

For starters, the Bulldogs play Texas A&M this weekend and then go to LSU the next weekend. MSU meets UM at Trustmark Park for the Governor's Cup on April 26.

The Bulldogs hit the road to battle Alabama after meeting the Rebels in the middle of the week. MSU finishes the SEC part of the schedule with a home series against the University of Missouri, a road series against Auburn University and at home against the University of Arkansas.

While it is tempting to look ahead, it is best to remember that the College World Series doesn’t even begin until June 18. MSU still has to play out the regular season, the SEC Tournament, and a Regional and Super Regional before the team can head to Omaha.