Arizona rides big inning to oust Mississippi State from softball super regional
May 28—STARKVILLE — The end of the road came for Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon.
Arizona rallied from a 1-0 deficit with a seven-run fourth inning and went on to eliminate the softball Bulldogs 7-1 in Game 2 of their NCAA Super Regional before a stadium-record 2,299 fans at Nusz Park.
The Wildcats won Game 1 of the super regional 3-2 on Friday.
Arizona advances to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City for the 25th time.
Mississippi State was bidding for its first WCWS appearance in its first super regional.
The Bulldogs scored just three runs in 15 innings against Arizona pitching.
"We needed to make adjustments sooner, and sometimes balls were not dropping. They made good plays against us," MSU catcher Mia Davidson said.
The season took on a historic nature for the Bulldogs (37-27) after they came from the loser's bracket to defeat No. 2 national seed Florida State with two wins in Tallahassee last Sunday.
Arizona (38-21) came out of the loser's bracket to defeat host Missouri twice in Columbia.
"As much as this hurts for us I couldn't be prouder of each and every one of them. It wasn't an easy road to get here by any means. I'm incredibly proud of their fight, the grit and growth they've shown that put Mississippi State softball on the map and moved the needle forward," Ricketts said.
PARRISH ALFORD is the college sports editor and columnist for the Daily Journal. Contact him at parrish.alford@journalinc.com.
