‘An Underdog Is Still A Freakin’ Dawg’
May 24, 2026 | Softball, Joel Coleman
NORMAN, Okla. – There was no sling. There was no stone. There was no shepherd boy and giant Philistine.
However, there was a softball and bats. There was also an underdog team unafraid of a dynasty.
David and Goliath? Nah. Just Mississippi State and Oklahoma. Sure seemed like an Old Testament rerun though.
By now you know all that happened on a magical MSU Sunday afternoon in Norman. The Bulldogs went biblical to reach their first ever Women's College World Series with head coach Samantha Ricketts passing out pebbles to every player pregame to remind them of the story.
In the process, State snapped the Sooners' streak of WCWS appearances that stretched for a full decade. Oklahoma last missed college softball's biggest event all the way back in 2015.
But OU will miss it again this year, all because of a bunch of Bulldogs who just simply didn't care that no one thought they had a chance to get past the Norman Super Regional.
Well…Almost no one.
"From the beginning, they never doubted," Ricketts said of her team. "They've had this goal in mind. When nobody else except for the 25 in the dugout would've believed, they did. They've worked every single day. They've raised the standard of this program, and I couldn't be more proud of them, of [Sunday starting pitcher Delainey Everett] and just Mississippi State softball and what we've been able to do right here."
Call it an upset if you want, but nothing about Sunday seemed fluky. It was State supremacy from beginning to end.
Kinley Keller's two-run single in the top of the first set the tone. Keller added on with a run-scoring infield single in the second. Paige Ernstes and Morgan Bernardini blasted home runs in the fourth and fifth frames respectively – Bernardini's a two-run shot – and it was all way more than enough for Everett.
Everett totally silenced the Sooners. She shut them out on their home field, something that hadn't been done in over 11 years.
"Delainey just competed her butt off," Ricketts said. "What an outstanding game."
If you want to believe something otherworldly was at work with this historic Bulldog triumph, Everett's effort could sure point you that direction.
She'd only thrown 13.1 innings all season prior to Sunday. She hadn't appeared at all in the circle for three weeks before the Norman Super Regional.
But there Everett was, literally at the center of the biggest game in Mississippi State softball history. And it came on the day of her parents' wedding anniversary – a particularly tough day for Everett as she tragically lost her father in January of 2025.
"He would be so proud," Everett said. "If he wasn't so hard on me, I wouldn't be here today.
"He coached me up until I got here. Remembering all the big games we had set me up for this moment, and I always know that he's here."
Everett's dad's teachings undoubtedly had her prepared. She pitched with poise. She pitched with confidence. You'd never have known she or her teammates were in a win-or-go-home situation against one of the most (if not THE most) premier programs in the sport.
"There was no pressure on us," Ricketts said. "At no point did we feel like we had any pressure. There was nobody picking us.
"Everyone thought we'd be run-ruled in two games, and we said, 'Good. We're going to fight anyway, play Mississippi State softball, focus on what we can control', and we did exactly that."
Sure did. Because of it, Goliath was brought down again.
As for David? Well, there's now some more fighting left to do.
"An underdog is still a freakin' Dawg," Everett said. "Everything that we worked for came through today, and we ain't done yet."
