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Mississippi State wins Starkville Regional with 19-5 victory over ULL

Mississippi State beat writer Colin Dammsby: Colin Damms06/01/26Colintheshots95

Mississippi State baseball is the winner of an NCAA Regional once again.

The Diamond Dawgs took down their third and final opponent of the weekend in Starkville on Sunday, beating Louisiana Lafayette to the tune of 19-5. The win saw the successful return of ace pitcher Ryan McPherson to extended action on the mound as well as a strong offensive performance to keep the bats hot.

The Bulldogs hopped on the ULL starter Sawyer Pruitt early, with solo home runs from Gehrig Frei, Ryder Woodson and Jacob Parker in the first two innings. It forced the Cajun bullpen into action, but the offensive production kept going. Kevin Milewski and Frei added RBI hits in the fourth inning before a two-run home run by Ace Reese to boost the lead even further in a four-run trip to the plate.

McPherson kept dealing to get his pitch count up above 80 with five complete innings of work and two runs allowed from five hits. It was his longest outing since returning from the mild forearm strain that sidelined him for seven weeks of the regular season, but above all, it was a positive sign for going forward into a Super Regional with two ace pitchers healthy and ready to go.

Jack Bauer was first out of the bullpen to take over for McPherson. The freshman southpaw gave up a solo shot with two gone in the sixth inning, which cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 8-3, but settled down to get the strikeout.

The Bulldogs put the result beyond doubt in the seventh inning with another big stretch at the plate. Four successive hits put three more runs on the board and forced the Cajuns into the bullpen yet again to stop the bleeding. The Bulldogs kept getting on base though, and Ryder Woodson made his second big swing of the day to send a two-run shot beyond the Left Field Lounge. He made it a 13-3 ballgame to complete a five-run inning of offense.

Bauer got just one out in the seventh before facing trouble. With runners at the corners, O’Connor went to the bullpen again for Maddox Miller, but the freshman from Hattiesburg loaded up the bases himself. Ben Davis came in for the second night in a row, and again got the strikeout to stop the run.

The pace of the game was quite slow late on. The Bulldogs worked through bullpen issues and the Cajuns could do nothing to stop MSU adding runs of their own. Jacob Parker put another exclamation mark on the win with a two-run bomb of his own in the eighth inning to restore the 10-run gap between the teams.

One of the best moments of the evening wasn’t much of a productive play. Bryce Chance’s final at-bat at Dudy Noble Field was a flyout to right field, but the crowd was on its feet, cheering him for the entire long walk back to the dugout. The emotions got to him as he returned to his place in center field with tears running down his cheeks, taking in every last bit of the final game in the stadium.

The late scoring continued with four runs in the ninth inning, including a three-run home run for Vytas Valincius. Dane Burns came on for his first action of the weekend and put the Cajuns down to close out the 19-5 victory and send the Bulldogs through to the Supers.

The Bulldogs will face SEC opponent Georgia, the No. 3 overall seed, in the Super Regional round in Athens next weekend.

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