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Mississippi State to Starkville Regional Championship after win over Cincy

Mississippi State beat writer Colin Dammsby: Colin Damms05/31/26Colintheshots95

Mississippi State baseball handled business again on Saturday at the Starkville Regional. Head coach Brian O’Connor’s group navigated a tricky first few innings against Big 12 power Cincinnati to win 10-5 and move to 2-0 for the weekend.

The Diamond Dawgs will await the winner between the Bearcats and Louisiana Lafayette on Sunday in the Regional Championship game. The Bulldogs need just one win to advance to their first Super Regional since 2021.

The two teams traded early hits. The Bulldogs got ahead with a solo home run from Ace Reese in the first inning, and the Bearcats responded with an RBI from three hits in the second inning.

Those three off of Valincius would be the only hits for the Bearcats through the first five innings, though. The Ferriss Trophy winner handled business through the remaining innings of his start and made efficient work to get deep into the game.

The Bulldogs had their work cut out for them trying to break the game open. Cincinnati starter Logan Knight made it most of the way through four innings before Adam Buczkowski came out of the bullpen, and his sidearm throwing motion made things difficult for the Bulldog batters. He left the bases loaded with a big strikeout in the fourth inning, and looked to be handling business in the fifth before a two-out rally.

Kevin Milewski drew a two-out walk to load the bases, and Bryce Chance once again delivered with no room for error. He got one home with a low hit toward the shortstop. A possible play at second was missed as Milewski slid in safely, confirmed by a review, and Gehrig Frei soon added to the score with a two-RBI drive up the middle.

The Bulldogs kept it going at the plate the next inning as well. Alex Gonzalez took over on the mound for the Bearcats, but gave up a hit by pitch and a walk before Reed Stallman produced an RBI double. A second run got home on a wild pitch, and then Milewski launched a two-run bomb over the wall in right. Suddenly, the Bulldogs were sitting pretty with an 8-1 lead.

Reed Stallman added another two runs for the Bulldogs in the seventh to make it a 10-1 ballgame. The Bearcats got a run back in the eighth as Valincius’ night came to an end. He made it 7.1 innings for the Bulldogs and recorded 10 punchouts in the process.

Maddox Webb came in to close things out for the Bulldogs, but he walked in another run and struggled to find the zone. O’Connor turned to Ben Davis, who finally ended the eighth inning but allowed another run in the ninth and loaded up the bases before getting an out. The Bulldogs whiffed on a double play opportunity with a bad toss from Frei to Ryder Woodson at second, and the pressure started to mount for what seemed a straightforward closeout job.

One more would get across to make it 10-5, but Davis settled down to get two strikeouts and end the game.

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