Super State! Dawgs Headed To NCAA Super Regional

Sunday, May 22

Tallahassee, Fla.

3:50 PM

Mississippi State

37-25

#2 Florida State

54-7

Mississippi State

Florida State

Photo by: Kevin Snyder/MSU Athletics

Super State! Dawgs Headed To NCAA Super Regional

May 22, 2022 | Softball

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By: Joel Coleman, Senior Writer

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.

Quotables

Mia Davidson on Chloe Malul'ulu's play this weekend…
"She has just been hot. She's been hot all the time. You know, you can always put any pressure on Chloe and she's going to get it done. She's one heck of a ball player and you just know she's going to get it done no matter what. She's amazing."

Mia Davidson on the thought that this could be her final game…
"I think it was like she said and like what Ricketts said, why not us? Everybody's going to count us out. We just got to focus on each other and believe in one another. And we did and that's all that really we're trying to focus on."

Annie Willis on the team's defense…
"Honestly, it gives you all the confidence in the world. That's something we've been working on very, very intentionally in practice the past few weeks, the whole season, but specifically, the past few weeks because we knew we were going to start playing tough competition. We were going to continue to face harder and harder teams and knowing that that defense is out there behind me, it gives me the ability to be calm on the mound and trust that no matter what the outcome is of that pitch that I throw, the defense is going to make the play. Even if we mess it up and we make an error or whatever we come right and that is all of us all bought in all for each other type of mentality."

Quick Hitters

Super Dawgs – Mississippi State advanced to the first Super Regional in program history … after starting the tournament with a loss, the Bulldogs won four straight elimination games, which is also MSU's most wins in the tournament.

Taking Down No. 2 – The Bulldogs won consecutive games against No. 2 Florida State, marking the first time a No. 2 national seed has been eliminated in the regional round … it marks State's first wins over No. 2 in program history and third and fourth ever against the Top 2 … State snapped a 24-game regional winning streak for FSU in the first game and is the only non-conference opponent to defeat the Seminoles this year.

Mia Davidson – Walked and came around to score from second, sliding under the tag, for the game-winning run.

Chloe Malau'ulu – Drove in the game-winning run with a two-run single in the fifth … drew a walk and later scored on a sacrifice fly.

Matalasi Faapito – Drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

Shea Moreno – Went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Annie Willis – Earned the biggest win of her career, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings … entered with a 3-1 deficit in the third and worked around eight baserunners.

Scoring Recap

Bottom 1
Kaley Mudge opened the game with a triple. Sydney Sherrill hit a two-run homer.
Mississippi State 0, Florida State 2

Top 2
Chloe Malau'ulu drew a leadoff walk that was followed by a Paige Cook single. Both runners advanced on Addison Purvis' fly out before Matalasi Faapito hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Malau'ulu.
Mississippi State 1, Florida State 2

Bottom 2
Michaela Edenfield walked to open the inning. Following a strikeout, Josie Muffley reached on a fielder's choice that retired Edenfield. Muffley scored on a double from Mudge.
Mississippi State 1, Florida State 3

Top 5
Madisyn Kennedy led off with a single and was pinch ran for. Riley Hull reached on a fielder's choice that retired the lead runner at second. Brylie St. Clair singled to left, pushing Hull to second. Mia Davidson then walked to load the bases. Back-to-back base hits from Shea Moreno and Malau'ulu brought three runs home.
Mississippi State 4, Florida State 3

On Deck

Mississippi State hosts Arizona in an NCAA Super Regional later this week. The winner of that best-of-three series will advance to the 2022 NCAA Women's College World Series.

Follow the Bulldogs

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