Softball Earns 17th NCAA Tournament Bid, Bound For Tallahassee

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's softball program is headed back to the NCAA Tournament for its fifth consecutive appearance. The Bulldogs (33-24, 10-14 SEC) will start their road to Oklahoma City as the No. 2 seed in the Tallahassee Regional.

MSU will open the double-elimination regional on Friday, May 20 at 5 p.m. CT against South Florida at Joanne Graf Field. Along with the Bulldogs and the Bulls, the Tallahassee Regional features host Florida State, which earned the No. 2 overall national seed, and Howard.

"We are excited to be back in the postseason and headed to Tallahassee," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "It's another quality regional with Florida State, South Florida and Howard. I'm really excited to see the team down there in this environment. It's something we've been working toward all year long and why we played such a tough schedule. I think we're battle-tested and ready to go. We're ready for the opportunity to go out and compete."

The Bulldogs' first game of the regional will be aired nationally on ESPNU and is also available online through WatchESPN or the ESPN app. Television assignments for the remaining games of the regional will be announced later this week.

The winner of the Tallahassee Regional will advance to Super Regionals to face the winner of the Columbia Regional, hosted by No. 15 Missouri. Also competing in the Columbia Regional are Arizona, Illinois and Missouri State.

The Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back extra-inning games in the SEC Tournament against No. 18 LSU and No. 10 Tennessee. MSU finished the season ranked No. 30 in the NCAA RPI. The Bulldogs played the fourth-toughest schedule in the nation.

State is making its 17th NCAA Tournament appearance. The Bulldogs have made every tournament bracket since 2017 and nine of the last 10 fields. All 17 appearances have come since 2000. MSU has won at least one regional game in six of its last seven tournament appearances and is aiming to make its first NCAA Super Regional appearance in program history.

In their last NCAA Tournament appearance, the Bulldogs fell to host and No. 5-seed Oklahoma State in the Regional final.

Tallahassee Regional Schedule (All Times Central)

Friday, May 20
Game 1: South Florida vs. Mississippi State – 5 p.m.
Game 2: Florida State vs. Howard – 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 21
Game 3: Game One Winner vs. Game Two Winner – 12 p.m.
Game 4: Game One Loser vs. Game Two Loser – 2:30 p.m.
Game 5: Game Three Loser vs. Game 4 Winner – 5 p.m.

Sunday, May 22
Game 6: Game Three Winner vs. Game Five Winner – 3 p.m.
Game 7: If Necessary – 5:30 p.m.

About the Tallahassee Regional Field

No. 2 Florida State (52-5)
Series History: 7-7 overall, 3-3 in Tallahassee
Last Meeting: May 17, 2013 in Mobile, Ala. (MSU 2, FSU 5)
Current Streak: Mississippi State lost 1

South Florida (44-14)
Series History: 2-3 overall, 0-1 at neutral sites
Last Meeting: Feb. 24, 2012 in Clearwater, Fla. (MSU 0, USF 1)
Current Streak: Mississippi State lost 1

Howard (31-22)
Series History: First meeting

For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Softball Earns 17th NCAA Tournament Bid, Bound For Tallahassee

Related News

Related Videos