Mississippi State and Jake Mangum lost a heartbreaker to Louisville in the bottom of the ninth. The Bulldogs were in control up 3-2 going into the last half inning, but the Cardinals mounted a rally.

For Mangum, he said an emotional goodbye to MSU, fans and college baseball immediately following the game. However, while meeting with the media and just before the press conference ended, Mangum offered a plea to the NCAA for a third paid assistant and more scholarships.

Earlier this spring, the third paid assistant proposal was shot down by the NCAA’s Division I council. The third assistant is currently classified as a volunteer assistant. For the last three years, this has been college baseball’s biggest legislative push.

Mangum is one of the game’s biggest stars, and his comments will certainly be heard.

“College baseball is evolving,” Mangum explained. “It’s time for a third paid assistant coach in college baseball. There’s a million people averaging watching this game — 30,000 people in that stadium. … it’s time.

“Every year this game keeps getting bigger. On that field, there was 27 players on each team — you start off with 35 and come with 27. Of those 35, there’s 11.7 on each team on scholarship. This game is getting way too big for that. … Every year, we’ve had assistant coaches that have not been paid who spend hours on hours on hours doing all they can for our program: sleeping in the offices, scouting reports, dealing with camps. … It’s time to change.”

The following video was shared by WCBISPORTS anchor/reporter Courtney Robb: