After a one-year absence and for the third time in four full seasons under head coach Samantha Ricketts, Mississippi State is back in the NCAA Tournament.
The Bulldogs, who finished .500 or better in Southeastern Conference play for the first time in 17 years, enjoyed a stress-free Selection Sunday and will go to a regional in Palo Alto, California, hosted by No. 8 seed Stanford. MSU is set to play Cal State Fullerton in the opening round on Friday.
All regionals are double elimination, a format that helps protect seeded teams. The Bulldogs could have bussed to either Tallahassee, Florida or Lafayette, Louisiana, but instead were shipped out west for a regional in which all three of their potential opponents are from California. Here’s what you need to know about each of the three teams MSU (33-18) could face at Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium.
Cal State Fullerton (36-17, 22-5 Big West)
As per tradition, the Big West title came down to the final series of the season between Titans and Long Beach State, and this time it was Fullerton coming out on top, winning two out of three at home to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs actually have played the Titans already, defeating them 4-2 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Feb. 24.
Josey Marron pitched five strong innings in that game, allowing just four hits and one earned run, before Aspen Wesley retired all six batters she faced for a two-inning save. MSU took the lead for good in the fourth on a Brylie St. Clair RBI single and a Salen Hawkins sacrifice fly. Fullerton played an extremely tough schedule at that tournament, run-ruling a top-5 Tennessee team and falling to Missouri and Nebraska.
The following weekend, the Titans defeated Michigan and later played Florida, Texas A&M, Oregon and UCLA, so they are more battle-tested than your average mid-major. Fullerton has five starting position players batting better than .300, led by .420 hitter Megan Delgadillo. Delgadillo is also 38-for-40 on stolen base attempts, and the Titans as a team are 11th in the country with just over two stolen bases per game.
In the circle, it’s all about the one-two punch of right-hander Haley Rainey (17-6, 1.76 ERA in 159 1/3 IP) and left-hander Staci Chambers (16-6, 2.16 ERA in 139 2/3 IP). The Bulldogs tagged Rainey for three earned runs in 3 ⅓ innings back in February, but Chambers was strong in relief with 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Chambers is 10th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio, striking out 6.33 batters for every base on balls.
No. 8 Stanford (43-13, 17-7 Pac-12)
The Cardinal reached the Women’s College World Series last year for the first time since 2004, and even with star pitcher Alana Vawter transferring to South Carolina, they might be even better this year. That’s mostly because of sophomore NiJaree Canady, arguably the best pitcher in all of college softball. In 168 2/3 innings, Canady has a 0.50 ERA, a .133 opponents’ batting average and 256 strikeouts against just 31 walks. She has also allowed just five home runs.
Head coach Jessica Allister has kept Canady’s workload manageable, too, with senior Regan Krause at 137 2/3 innings and a 2.34 ERA. Stanford hasn’t always scored runs in bunches, but with that pitching staff, it usually hasn’t needed to. Indiana transfer Taryn Kern leads the Cardinal with a .538 slugging percentage, Emily Jones is batting .366 and catcher Aly Kaneshiro has a team-high 10 home runs.
With non-conference wins over two of the top three national seeds — Texas and Tennessee — and a second-place finish in a strong Pac-12, the Cardinal are among the national title favorites and will be extremely tough to beat twice on their home field.
Saint Mary’s (30-22, 10-6 WCC)
Like Fullerton, the Gaels compete in a conference without a tournament and clinched the WCC’s automatic bid by splitting a four-game series last weekend against Loyola Marymount. That earned them their first conference title since 2012 and just an hour-long drive to their regional site.
Saint Mary’s does have two wins over high-major opponents this year, but those came against Oregon State and Iowa, which both finished below .500. Three pitchers share the innings relatively evenly, with Odhi Vasquez, Avrey Wolverton and Mia Nishikawa all carrying an ERA under 3.
The Gaels don’t hit for much power — just 19 home runs as a team — but freshman Sam Buckley sports an impressive .370/.514/.654 triple slash. And just like the Titans, Saint Mary’s is among the best base-stealing teams in the country. Marissa Montelongo is 33-for-36, Hannah Ferguson is 23-for-27 and Tori Cervantes is 13-for-14, with Buckley a perfect 9-for-9.
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