The Mississippi State softball team swept through the Eugene Regional to advance past the opening round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history.
The No. 20 Bulldogs beat Saint Mary’s, 3-2, in extra innings on Friday before using an Alyssa Faircloth no-hitter on Saturday to blank host Oregon, 4-0, on Saturday. Needing one win on Sunday, Mississippi State did just that with a 5-0 win over Saint Mary’s.
Faircloth was undoubtedly the star of the regional. The junior picked up all three wins in the circle and struck out 26 batters – the most for a pitcher in Mississippi State regional history. She did not allow a single run in 15.2 innings of work.
“I just went out there and did it three outs at a time. I don’t want to get too big or look too far ahead,” Faircloth said after Sunday’s win. “That was [the coaches’] message before we even left the hotel, which was ‘Let’s take it one pitch at a time, one out at a time,’ that kind of thing, rather than looking ahead. So, I’m just staying present in the moment and trusting the girls behind me.”
Offensively, Nadia Barbary’s bat was on fire. She became the first Bulldog to hit two home runs in a regional and is now second in program history in NCAA Tournament home runs (3). That trails only Mia Davidson’s five tournament long balls, a record she set in 2022.
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Kinley Keller continued her postseason streak of reaching base in every game to this point. She’s now 5-for-11 with three doubles and two walks since the SEC Tournament. Morgan Stiles is now tied for fourth in program history in NCAA Tournament hits (12), boasting a .522 batting average in her NCAA Tournament career.
Mississippi State will now travel to Norman to play No. 2 Oklahoma in the super-regional round. The best-of-three series begins Friday at noon CT with the second game being played at the same time on Saturday. Game three, if necessary, will be played Sunday at a time to be determined. The winner will advance to the Women’s College World Series.
As for the Ole Miss softball team, the Rebels fell in the championship series of the Lubbock Regional on Sunday.
