State Makes 20th NCAA Tournament, Bound For Eugene

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's softball program will play in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in the last nine tournaments. The Bulldogs (38-18, 9-15 SEC) will start their road to Oklahoma City as a No. 5 seed in the Eugene Regional.

MSU will open the double-elimination regional on Friday, May 15 at 6:30 p.m. CT against Saint Mary's (CA) at Jane Sanders Stadium. Along with the Bulldogs and the Gaels, the Eugene Regional features host Oregon, which earned a No. 4 seed and is the No. 14 overall national seed, and Idaho State. State last played in Eugene in 2012.

"We are excited to be back in the postseason and be one of the remaining 64 teams competing across the country," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We're looking forward to getting out to Eugene and preparing for three quality opponents that we may face in the regional."

The Bulldogs' first game of the regional will stream on ESPN+. Television assignments for the remaining games of the regional will be announced later this week.

The winner of the Eugene Regional will advance to Super Regionals to face the winner of the Norman Regional, hosted by No. 3 overall seed Oklahoma. Also competing in the Norman Regional are Kansas, Michigan and Binghamton.

The Bulldogs won 37 games in the regular season, their highest regular-season win total ever under Ricketts. State is looking to match its most wins under Ricketts (39) and potentially post the third 40-win season in program history in regional play.

Along the way, MSU reached its highest ranking in program history in the NFCA, USA Softball and D1Softball polls. State is No. 19 in the latest RPI, which matches its highest final RPI since 2008.

The Bulldogs are led by one of the nation's elite pitching staffs. MSU's bullpen has set team records for strikeouts (468) overall and conference-play team records in strikeouts (179), strikeouts per seven innings (7.83), fewest hits allowed (134) and batting average against (.225). Alyssa Faircloth earned Second Team All-SEC honors and was named the league's Newcomer of the Year by SEC coaches. Meanwhile, Peja Goold was selected by the Oklahoma City Spark in this year's AUSL Draft and was tabbed the SEC Newcomer of the Year by USA Today Sports.

Offensively, Second Team All-SEC selection Nadia Barbary and Kiarra Sells lead the way. Barbary paces the squad in RBIs and hits while Sells leads the team in average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

State is making its 20th NCAA Tournament appearance. The Bulldogs have made 12 of the last 14 tournament fields, and all 20 appearances have come since 2000. In 2022, the Bulldogs reached the Super Regionals for the first time in program history, winning the Tallahassee Regional to earn the right to host the Starkville Super Regional.

Eugene Regional Schedule (All Times Central)

Friday, May 16

Game 1: Mississippi State vs. Saint Mary's (CA) – 6:30 p.m.
Game 2: No. 14 Oregon vs. Idaho State – 9 p.m.

Saturday, May 17

Game 3: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner – 4 p.m.
Game 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser – 6:30 p.m.
Game 5: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner – 9 p.m.

Sunday, May 18

Game 6: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner – 6:30 p.m.
Game 7: If Necessary – 9 p.m.

About the Eugene Regional Field

No. 14 Oregon (40-12, 20-4 B1G)

Series History: 1-1 overall, First meeting in Eugene
Last Meeting: Feb. 20, 2020, in Cathedral City, Calif. (ORE 7, MSU 2)
Current Streak: Oregon won 1

Saint Mary's (CA) (40-14, 15-3 WCC)

Series History: 0-1 overall, 0-1 at neutral sites
Last Meeting: March 14, 1997, in San Jose, Calif. (SMC 2, MSU 1)
Current Streak: Saint Mary's won 1

Idaho State (37-18, 10-5 Big Sky)

Series History: 0-1 overall, 0-1 at neutral sites
Last Meeting: March 27, 1982, in Bartlesville, Okla. (ISU 8, MSU 0)
Current Streak: Idaho State won 1

For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."

Mississippi State University Athletics

State Makes 20th NCAA Tournament, Bound For Eugene

Related News

Players Mentioned

Nadia Barbary

Alyssa Faircloth

Peja Goold

Kiarra Sells

Related Videos