Omaha? It’s somewhere in middle America.

On Sunday afternoon, Mississippi State was coming home.

Eight outs away from a trip to the College World Series, the Bulldogs came up a hair short. Preston Tucker’s three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning put Florida ahead, and the Gators went on to win 8-6 in Game 3 of their NCAA super regional series in Gainesville.

It was a disappointing end to a dreamy postseason for Mississippi State and yet, coach John Cohen hopes, the start of a great future.

“Our kids competed their tails off. We’re basically a couple of strikes away from changing the momentum of this game and going to Omaha,” Cohen said. “It’s a huge credit to our kids, a huge jump for our program. But I can’t stand saying that, because I want to be in Omaha. I don’t want to say it’s a moral victory. Our seniors have laid the foundation for these young guys, and we have some extremely talented young guys.”

In the preseason, Mississippi State was picked to finish near the bottom of the Southeastern Conference’s Western Division. It wasn’t far from it — only two games separated first place from last in the division, and MSU (37-23) was tied for second — but rode a late-season surge to a postseason berth.

The Bulldogs then swept three games in the Atlanta regional, evened the super regional with a dramatic walk-off victory on Saturday, and took the lead in the seventh inning of Game 3. An RBI single by Nick Vickerson and a two-run single from Brent Brownlee erased an early four-run deficit and put Mississippi State ahead 6-4.

Florida, though, showed why it was deserving of the No. 2 national seed. Two walks set up Tucker’s three-run homer that put the Gators back in front. It was the fourth of five home runs Florida hit on Sunday, and reliever Tommy Toledo slammed the door with a perfect eighth and ninth inning.

Both Cohen and his Florida counterpart Kevin O’Sullivan said the series was typical of an SEC weekend. Although the Gators were heavily favored coming in, the difference between the teams was small. Although Florida blew out the Bulldogs twice this season, five of their seven meetings were decided by two runs — and often in the later innings.

“I think it was one of the best games that I have been involved with,” O’Sullivan said. “Both teams were competing, and both teams were throwing as hard as they could. Both teams made plays and came up with key hits in certain situations. It’s just one of those things where we just got a couple more runs.”

Despite the loss, Cohen said the journey will pay benefits for his team. Ten of the 16 players who got into Sunday’s game will return next season. That number includes all seven pitchers Cohen used. Getting to experience the big stage and pressure situations, as well as putting in some extra work will all pay dividends, Cohen said.

“I think it’s like the football thing with going to a bowl. Those guys get an extra month of practice. We get a significant amount of time, with not being in school and your younger players getting to be around the older guys,” Cohen said.