In 2018 when Mississippi State made it to Omaha and the College World Series, the Adams family of Brookhaven — Nicholas and Juliana and their three boys — were enjoying a beach vacation. There was talk of Nicholas flying out of Pensacola to catch a game, but impending work duties won out — not before a vow was made that if State made it back in 2019, the Adamses would be there.

State rolled through the regular season like a juggernaut and before they won their Super Regional over Stanford, Juliana Adams was already looking for somewhere to stay in Omaha.

“Hotels rooms 20 miles away were going for $350 a night,” said Juliana. “I lucked out and found a really great spot on Airbnb and booked it before they clinched the Super Regional. It had a 48-hour cancellation policy, but I wasn’t too worried.”

Both MSU alums, Nicholas and Juliana loaded up their two oldest sons, Matt and Max, for a trip to Nebraska to cheer for the Dogs. The baby of the family — Mason — said he wasn’t interested in a long driving trip that centered around baseball and stayed behind with family. 

The 13-hour drive wasn’t too bad as Matt and Max were abuzz with anticipation. They wanted their parents to take pictures of anything and everything that said TD Ameritrade Ballpark. As excited as they were, their parents were just as jacked.

“It was just an unbelievable experience,” said Juliana. “As someone who has always loved sports and always loved college athletics, it’s a bucket-list type trip. The atmosphere of all the fans pouring into the stadium will give you chills.”

It didn’t hurt that the Adamses were able to see a game that will live forever in Mississippi State baseball folklore on Sunday when the Bulldogs scored four in the bottom of the ninth to beat Auburn 5-4.

“There were people leaving in the later innings and I couldn’t believe it,” said Juliana. “We didn’t come all that way to leave early and try to beat the rush out of the parking lot. Everyone was standing through the ninth and the next day I couldn’t talk because I had yelled so much.”

On Friday morning it wasn’t Juliana’s voice that was raw, it was her heart that was hurting after the Bulldogs suffered a walk-off elimination loss to Louisville Thursday night.

Juliana watched that from the comfort of her couch. The trip was originally planned to see two games in Omaha, but weather moved the game against Vanderbilt from Tuesday to Wednesday and the family couldn’t stay any longer due to Nicholas needing to leave for work.

“This team was so good on the field, but off the field they were also such an awesome group of guys,” said Juliana. “They’d play catch with kids in the stands and sign autographs and pose for pictures with everyone that asked them.”

Nicholas and Juliana were already die-hard MSU baseball fans before the trip, but this has further strengthened their love of the program. They’ll plan more beach vacations but are hoping for more Omaha trips in the future.

“We definitely want to go back again,” said Juliana. “It was awesome to take our two baseball-crazy boys to experience it, but it was just as much a trip for Nicholas and I as them. I’m just sad it’s over.”