NATCHEZ — Billy Gillon eats a banana every day. He said it’s good for his health.

Over the last few weeks, bananas have been very good for Gillon’s alma mater, too.

As the Mississippi State University baseball team prepares for its first game of the College World Series tonight, Gillon and fellow Natchez natives Scott Kimbrell and Pat Burns are ready to cheer them on in Omaha, Nebraska — bananas and all.

The odd yet widespread rally cry for the Bulldogs started at the beginning of this month as Mississippi State was fighting to keep its season afloat. Jordan Westburg, an MSU freshman infielder, had grabbed a banana as a snack during a game of the Tallahassee Regional.

The Bulldogs battled to win four straight games to advance to the Super Regionals.

“They were down. All of a sudden this guy has got a banana on his head,” Gillon said. “He would hold it up like he was talking on the phone and all kinds of crazy things. Everyone thought it was ridiculous, but everybody was laughing. And, it worked.”

In the world of college baseball, it’s not uncommon to hold on to superstition. So, Mississippi State took its bananas to Nashville, Tenn., defeated Vanderbilt in a best-of-three series and advanced to its first College World Series in five years.

Gillon, Kimbrell and Burns all figured an extra dose of potassium couldn’t hurt, so they booked their tickets to Omaha.

“We are all from Natchez, and we have known each other a long time,” Kimbrell said. “We have done some trips together in the past.”

The Natchez trio, in fact, was in Omaha the last time Mississippi State made the College World Series in 2013. The Bulldogs advanced to the title game, ultimately falling to UCLA for the best finish in school history.

“We just enjoyed it so much,” Kimbrell said. “It is just such an atmosphere. The people are fun, and they are all excited about college baseball.”

Kimbrell and his close friends won’t be the only ones from Natchez rooting for the Bulldogs this year, either.

Former Adams County Christian School baseball player Luke Brumfield had planned his first trip to Omaha more than six months ago, and it just happened that Mississippi State is now one of the final eight teams.

Brumfield attended Mississippi State for a few months and said he’s been a fan ever since, despite finishing his college career at Mississippi Valley State on a baseball scholarship.

“I went for half a semester, and I just got hooked with those people,” Brumfield said. “We went to football games and things, and it was always so much fun.”

A former player himself, Brumfield said he might be even more excited to experience the entire trip rather than simply watching the Bulldogs.

“Now that they are there it’s unreal, but it really is every player’s dream to make it there,” he said. “From Day 1 that’s the goal. There’s no other goal that goes above that.

“It’s not even winning. It’s just being there which I’m finally doing, but I’m just not on the field.”

As far as the bananas go, Brumfield said he understands the relentlessness of sticking with the quirk.

“It’s just baseball,” he said. “Whatever is working, you ride with it.”

Kimbrell said he, too, sees no harm in the popular fruit.

“I guess it’s our good luck charm, and we want to keep it going,” he said. “No point in stopping it now.”

Mississippi State will kick off its run in the College World Series at 7 p.m. tonight against Washington. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.