'Dogs Battle Texas A&M-Corpus Christi In NCAA Region 4 Opener
May 25, 2016 | Softball
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AUSTIN, Texas - Having received its fifth NCAA Regional invitation in the last six seasons, including a record four consecutive bids, the Mississippi State softball team will open up its portion of play in the NCAA Region 4 tournament Friday afternoon when the second-seeded Bulldogs lace up to battle third-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 4 p.m. in Austin, Texas.
The Bulldogs (33-29) and Islanders (41-9) will meet one another for just the second time, and the first match-up since 2001, in the Austin Regional opener at McCombs Field, with fourth overall seed and host Texas (42-11) locking horns with fourth-seeded UMass (37-14-1) in Friday's nightcap at 6:30 p.m. State's date with Corpus Christi is slated to be broadcast live by WMSV 91.1 FM with Anthony Craven handling all the play-by-play duties, with in-game action also available via a live stats link at the official Internet home of the Mississippi State athletic department, www.MStateAthletics.com.
Friday's winners will meet one another in Saturday's opener at noon, with the loser of each game battling in an elimination contest at 2:30 p.m.
It's another season for us, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. I think everybody was pretty excited after they found out that we got the bid on Sunday night and are looking forward to continuing our season, Texas is a tough place to play. They have got the best pitcher in the country and that is a challenge for our ball club. We didn't hit the ball very well at the SEC Tournament and we are going to face some tough pitching here.
The match-ups (at this regional) are good. If we can get some decent pitching performances, we can hang right with each of these teams and give ourselves some opportunities. That's what you want at this time of year * an opportunity to compete and an opportunity to continue playing. Right now, you have 64 teams left and anybody can beat anybody.
Carrying just a .265 team batting average heading into the postseason, Corpus Christi's success has come from the pitching circle where senior righthander Sarah Pauly is flirting to become the first 500-strikeout pitcher in school history. Pauly (36-5, 0.50 ERA) boasts the nation's third best earned run average and has struck out 478 batters in just 267 innings of work. Offensively, the Islanders are paced by shortstop Shannon Stein (.324, 3 HR, 26 RBI), but have gotten plenty of pop from catcher Nekkia Neash (.265, 22 RBI) who has tallied a team-best four home runs this season.
Sarah Pauly has been dominant for them this season and has won a lot of ball games, Miller said. She doesn't give you a whole lot of opportunities at the plate. But, we faced some pretty good pitching at the SEC Tournament, so I would think we would be prepared for her. We've seen great pitchers the last two months of the season, so I think that our kids are ready. It won't be any different than what we see every weekend in the SEC.
The Bulldogs and Islanders have met just one other time in the history of the two programs. The Maroon and White took an abbreviated 8-0 victory at the 2001 TAMU-CC-hosted Islander Invitational. In that game, State scored multi runs in each of the first, second and fifth innings behind a one-hit shutout from then-freshman pitcher/outfielder Iyhia McMichael.
State will ride a wave of momentum from the pitching circle into the tournament. Rookie Ragan Blake has posted a 2-0 record with an 0.75 ERA in her last seven appearances for the Maroon and White, including striking out seven and allowing just six hits and one run in 8.2 innings (three appearances) of relief at the SEC Tournament. Sophomore Kelli Miller is 4-4 with a 1.72 ERA in her last 10 outings and, last season, turned in a paltry 0.64 ERA in three appearances at the 2004 NCAA Region 5 Tournament in Lincoln, Neb.
NCAA AUSTIN REGIONAL SCHEDULE
(All Times Central Daylight Time)
FRIDAY
Game 1 - #2 Mississippi State (33-29) vs. #3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (41-9), 4 p.m.
Game 2 - #1 Texas (42-11) vs. Massachusetts (37-14-1), 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
Game 3 * Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, Noon
Game 4 * Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 2:30 p.m.
Game 5 * Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 5 p.m.
SUNDAY
Game 6 * Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, Noon
*Game 7 * Same Two Teams From Game 6, 35 Minutes After Game 6
* - If Necessary
