STARKVILLE — One more win.
The top-seeded and No. 4 Mississippi State University baseball team moved into the championship round of the Starkville Regional with a 4-1 victory against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday night at Dudy Noble Field.
MSU (43-16-1) will face Louisiana Tech or Cal State Fullerton again at 6:30 p.m. today for the regional championship. Louisiana Tech (41-19) and Cal State Fullerton (36-22) will play at 1:30 p.m. today. The winner there will have to beat MSU twice (once Sunday and once Monday) to win the double-elimination event.
With one more win, MSU will advance to a super regional for the third time in the past six seasons. By virtue of earning the No. 6 national seed, MSU also will play host the super regional. The winner of that best-of-three regional will earn a berth in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
“Cal State Fullerton can really play,” MSU coach John Cohen said. “They understand pitching and defense. If they score two or three runs, it is remarkable how many games they have won. Gavin Collins had a couple of errors early, but he responded with four major-league plays and saved runs for us.”
MSU has started 2-0 in its regional with timely hitting, strong pitching and boisterous crowds. The Bulldogs opened the regional with a 9-5 win over Southeast Missouri State Friday. The two games have drawn a combined crowd of 20,034.
Cal State Fullerton entered the game with the nation’s lowest earned run average. MSU countered with the pitching duo of Austin Sexton and Blake Smith.
Sexton (8-3) allowed five hits and one run (earned) in 6 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out four. Smith pitched 2 2/3 innings of hitless relief for his fifth save.
Ryan Gridley and Jake Mangum had key hits in the seventh inning as the Bulldogs scored twice to build a 3-0 lead. Brent Rooker homered twice in MSU’s victory Friday.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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