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How to watch Texas softball play Mississippi State in a WCWS elimination game

by: Josh Florey05/29/26

After losing to Tennessee in game one, Texas will face the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the loser’s bracket game. 

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The Bulldogs were run-ruled by Texas Tech 8-0 in their first game, looking more like they did in game two of the Norman Super Regional than they did in games one and three. 

One of the biggest questions for the Longhorns will be if their pitching will improve. Teagan Kavan has not been nearly as elite this postseason as last, allowing three earned runs to Tennessee and giving up more baserunners than you would like. Citlaly Gutierrez was great in her games against Arizona State, but struggled a bit against the Lady Vols. 

Hitting has also been inconsistent, with the Longhorns struggling to string together hits as of late. Leighann Goode was 1-for-18 in the postseason before she launched a homer against Tennessee, while players like Reese Atwood and Katie Stewart have not reached the same level as they did during the regular season and even in the regional. Other batters have played decently, but have not been able to string together enough back-to-back hits. 

Mississippi State, who much like Tennessee was not on Texas’ SEC schedule, is a very solid team, but has not been quite as great over the season as pretty much every other WCWS team. 

This is their first WCWS appearance as a program. 

Pitching-wise, the Bulldogs are led by Alyssa Faircloth and Peja Goold. Faircloth has a 2.61 ERA on 177 IP while Goold has a 2.45 ERA on 154.1 IP. Delainey Everette has been very good in her few appearances, including a shutout of Oklahoma in game three of their Super Regional. 

Overall, the Mississippi State batters are not as strong as their pitching counterparts, but they have pieces that can get hot. Kiarra Sells and Nadia Barbury lead Mississippi State batters in HR with 14 apiece. Sells has a .329 AVG while Barbury has a .326 AVG. As a team, they bat .274 on the season, with 292 runs scored. 

For Texas to win any more games, they will need a combination of more bats to step up throughout the entire lineup, as well as Kavan to settle in. 

Out of all the teams in the WCWS, Mississippi State is probably the easiest team to beat on paper, which is a bonus. 

Mike White said during the Super Regional that this team plays best with their backs up against the wall, and that’s where they are now. 

The winner of the game will play the loser of the Tennessee/Texas Tech matchup. The loser will go home. 

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