I wasn't able to join the weekly John Cohen teleconference this morning, but the transcript was passed along to me, so I shall pass along to you some of the highlights of a very long chat.

MSU (31-21, 13-14 SEC) closes out the regular season this weekend against No. 4-ranked Kentucky (41-12, 18-9), which currently leads the SEC Eastern Division. The Bulldogs are jockeying for a good SEC Tournament seed while beefing up the NCAA regional résumé.

"We need to win two out of the three games, at least," Cohen said. "We need to be able to do that. It is out in front of us and we can control our own destiny in a lot of ways, and we are excited about the opportunity."

A lot of the teleconference centered around MSU's offensive struggles. It's batting .218 in league play and was shut out last night by Central Arkansas.

"The kids are just going to have to be warriors this weekend. They are going to have to forget everything that’s happened offensively and just do what we have done trying to create offense when it available," Cohen said.

He added that the Bulldogs won't do any offensive work in today's practice "just to let them clear their heads and just not doing anything."

One player who's really struggled is first baseman Wes Rea, a redshirt freshman who's mired in a 1-for-41 slump that began with his last at-bat against Tennessee on April 20 (Game 2). Rea has been battling a shoulder injury.

"I think every time he gets a pitch that is down in the zone he gets a pain in his shoulder and I think he is doing his best to manage it. He is so far beyond our best defender at first base for so many reasons … he is almost a defensive specialist for us at first base."

Cohen, of course, is facing his old team this weekend. He coached Kentucky from 2004-08, winning the SEC championship in 2006. The Wildcats fell on hard times after he left but are again riding high.

"When I walked out of the door we had signed five of the top 60 players according to Baseball America and that was due in large part to our assistant coaches who are still there. They have just done a great, great job of just getting players to believe in the process. The process is different at Kentucky than the rest of the league.  When you’re at Kentucky you’re fighting the weather, you fighting a couple of facility issues that are different than the rest of the league."

In today's Journal I wrote a column examining the seeding possibilities for Mississippi State in next week's SEC Tournament (CLICK HERE). I wrote that the highest seed MSU could hope for was a five, and while that's the most realistic possibility, there is a mathematical possibility that it earns a No. 4 seed.

The scenario must involve Florida, which is currently in the No. 4 seed position. I've determined that only one possible scenario gives MSU that spot. Here's what would have to happen. Try to stay with me.

• MSU would have to sweep Kentucky this weekend; Auburn would have to sweep Florida; and Ole Miss would have to take two of three from Vanderbilt. That would put State, Florida and Ole Miss all at 16-14 in league play and tied for fourth in the overall standings, assuming Georgia (13-13) doesn't finish with a better mark.

• The first three-way tie-breaker the SEC uses is each teams' collective record against the other two teams. In this case, the Bulldogs, Gators and Rebels all have 3-3 marks. So you go to the next tie-breaker, which is each team's record against the No. 1 seed, and this is where it gets sorta tricky.

• If MSU sweeps Kentucky (18-9), then either LSU (17-10) or South Carolina (17-9) would become the No. 1 overall seed. Why? Because the Tigers and Gamecocks play each other this weekend, and one of those teams will win at least two games and get to 19 wins.

Let's say LSU is the No. 1 seed. MSU, UF and Ole Miss each went 1-2 against the Tigers, so you toss that out and go to the teams' records against the No. 2 seed. Let's say that's South Carolina. Well, Ole Miss didn't play SC this season, so that tie-breaker doesn't apply, and we go to the third seed.

In this hypothetical scenario, in which MSU sweeps Kentucky, then Kentucky would be the No. 3 seed, and the Bulldogs would have the tie-break advantage by virtue of the sweep (Florida went 2-1 vs. UK, Ole Miss 1-2).

If South Carolina winds up the No. 1 seed and/or Kentucky winds up with the No. 2, then the tie-breakers play out the same, and MSU earns the No. 4 seed.

Again, this is all predicated upon two very unlikely events: No. 3-ranked Florida being swept by Auburn, and MSU sweeping No. 4-ranked Kentucky. But stranger things have happened. We just saw UF lose to Samford last night, and Auburn took two of three from Arkansas last weekend. It's got Florida at home, where the Tigers are 21-11 this season.

It won't take much to render the above scenario moot. Again, Georgia could sweep lowly Alabama and finish a half-game up on all three teams. Arkansas (13-14) could enter the tie-break fray with a sweep at Tennessee, but I've not done all the necessary homework to determine whether the Hogs could get the fourth seed.

(I do know that Vanderbilt could wind up the No. 4 seed. Mind-blowing considering where the Commodores were just three weeks ago.)

If you want to work through various tie-break scenarios yourself, you can CLICK HERE to view the SEC's tie-breaker rules. Here are the current league standings, followed by this weekend's schedule:

EAST

1. Kentucky, 18-9

2. South Carolina, 17-9

3. Florida, 16-11

4. Georgia, 13-13

5. Vanderbilt, 13-14

6. Tennessee, 8-19

WEST

1. LSU, 17-10

2. Ole Miss, 14-13

T3. Arkansas, 13-14

T3. MSU, 13-14

5. Auburn, 12-15

6. Alabama, 7-20

Note: Alabama and Tennessee will not qualify for the SEC Tournament.

This weekend

• Kentucky (18-9) at MSU (13-14)

• Arkansas (13-14) at Tennessee (8-19)

• Florida (16-11) at Auburn (12-15)

• LSU (17-10) at South Carolina (17-9)

• Georgia (13-13) at Alabama (7-20)

• Ole Miss (14-13) at Vanderbilt (13-14)

Last week I wrote about MSU's offensive numbers, many of which are not pretty. Like the Bulldogs' team batting average, which is currently .249. According to the latest NCAA statistics (CLICK HERE), that ranks 270th out of 291 teams nationally.

Of course, as coach John Cohen pointed out, hits aren't everything. And MSU has done pretty well in some other notable offensive categories. It ranks 10th in hit-by-pitches, 48th in walks and 62nd in sac bunts.

The batting average does need to improve, and Cohen has acknowledged that. But college baseball these days isn't about offense. It's about pitching and defense, and those were the needs – especially pitching – addressed heavily by Cohen in recruiting when he arrived. Naturally, signing all those pitchers – some of whom also play in the field – was going to cost MSU offensively once last year's seniors left.

And oh how the pitching has improved. The Bulldogs' 2.71 ERA ranks fourth in the country and first in the SEC. Remember 2009, Cohen's first year? MSU had a team ERA of 6.59, which ranked 210th, and was 237th in walks allowed per nine innings (4.75). The pitching numbers are so strong across the board this season for MSU:

• 10th in strikeouts per nine innings (8.4)

• 20th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.96)

• 28th in walks allowed per nine innings (2.81)

• 11th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.99)

• 20th in WHIP (1.2)

Individually speaking, shortstop Adam Frazier ranks 19th in walks, and Chris Stratton ranks highly in several categories: 65th in ERA (2.22), seventh in victories (nine), 18th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.78), fifth in total strikeouts (107), 30th in strikeouts-to-walk ratio (5.63) and 26th in WHIP (0.96).

Guess what we've got to talk about this morning? Baseball, baseball and more baseball. And a few other items.

MSU right-hander Chris Stratton now has a centerpiece for his trophy shelf, taking home the Ferriss Trophy in Jackson yesterday (CLICK HERE). The junior from Tupelo has made quite the impression on scouts and others who follow college baseball on the national scene. But Stratton has also impressed on a more local level.

Ole Miss second baseman Alex Yarbrough, who was also a Ferriss finalist, spoke highly of Stratton and the improvements he's made since last year.

"He's got three really plus pitches. His fastball really jumps on you, and he can throw a slider and his changeup in any count. He's made great strides this season, and it's really paid off for him," Yarbrough said.

Much of what was discussed about Stratton yesterday was the same ground I covered in a feature story on him a few days ago (CLICK HERE). The mild-mannered Stratton has taken on a more aggressive demeanor on the mound while also keeping his emotions under control. Off the field, he's still the same Stratton he's always been.

"Off the field he's president of the United States. He's the governor," MSU coach John Cohen said. "There's nobody in the world that would dislike Chris Stratton. He's just a remarkable young man. He does it in the classroom, he does it in the community. You just can't say enough things."

• Also in today's Journal is an update on the Bulldogs themselves (CLICK HERE). They're coming off a tough series loss at Florida, which has moved up to No. 3 in the Baseball America rankings (MSU fell out after being 25th last week).

The pitching last weekend was superb, the hitting not so much, and there were some defensive issues (five errors, leading to three unearned runs). MSU was only outscored 6-4 on the weekend. Maybe the offense will come around and be more consistent, but it's no secret MSU will have to ride its pitching to whatever postseason success might await.

"I just want our guys to not move, keep standing there," pitching coach Butch Thompson said. "We're really doing some of this early on, but two outs we couldn't get out of some innings. That's how close it was, and (the Gators) were making the one more pitch or getting the one more out or making one more play defensively. For us to go anywhere, that's what we have to be able to do, to continue that for our team."

MSU plays Central Arkansas tonight and then hosts No. 4 Kentucky this weekend. I'll try to break down the possible SEC Tournament seed scenarios for State later this week, assuming the process of it doesn't drive me to heavy drinking.

• Hey, look, USA Today has a new database listing schools' expenses and revenues (CLICK HERE). Have some aspirin handy and enjoy.

• ICYMI (that means "in case you missed it" in Twitter shorthand), a couple of former Bulldogs signed as undrafted free agents on Monday: James Carmon with Buffalo, Wade Bonner with Philadelphia.