Super State! Dawgs headed to NCAA Super Regional

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Mississippi State faced an uphill battle if it wanted to reach the NCAA Super Regionals on Sunday.

Needing to defeat No. 2 Florida State twice on its home field, the Bulldogs climbed the mountain and made school history in the process.

After topping the Seminoles 5-0 in the first game Sunday, State took the second contest 4-3 to advance to the program’s first-ever Super Regional.

The Bulldogs will host Arizona later this week at Nusz Park with a trip to the NCAA Women’s College World Series on the line.

To have such an opportunity, it took every bit of Bulldog grit and toughness to emerge triumphantly from the Tallahassee Regional.

State dropped its opening game on Friday, then stormed back through the loser’s bracket with two wins on Saturday ahead of the two on Sunday.

Heroes were everywhere in Sunday’s clincher. Annie Willis earned the win, tossing five scoreless innings of relief from the circle.

Down 3-1 in the fifth, Shea Moreno delivered an RBI base hit, and Chloe Malau’ulu delivered what turned out to be the game-winning swing with a two-run single. Matalasi Faapito had earlier driven home State’s first run with a sacrifice fly in the second inning.

It all added up to Mississippi State becoming the first team to ever eliminate a national No. 2 seed in the Regional round, and it now sets up the upcoming Starkville Super Regional. Dates, times and ticket information will be released later.

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