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Faircloth, Bulldogs Punch Ticket to Norman With Perfect Eugene Run

Mississippi State swept the Eugene Regional behind Alyssa Faircloth's record-setting pitching to reach the Super Regionals.
Andy Hodges|
Mississippi State pitcher Alyssa Faircloth celebrates an out a series-opening one win against Ole Miss in Oxford.
Mississippi State pitcher Alyssa Faircloth celebrates an out a series-opening one win against Ole Miss in Oxford. | Mississippi State Athletics

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Mississippi State Bulldogs

Some programs talk about being built for May.

The Mississippi State softball team just showed what that phrase actually looks like.

The Bulldogs wrapped up an undefeated run through the Eugene Regional on Sunday evening, finishing off Saint Mary's 5-0 to punch their ticket to just the second Super Regional in program history.

For a program that didn't make the postseason in some recent years, this is news and the numbers that got them there are hard to believe.

Junior pitcher Alyssa Faircloth was the story of the entire weekend in Oregon.

She picked up all three wins in Eugene, struck out an MSU NCAA Tournament-record 26 batters and didn't allow a single run across 15.2 innings of work.

She threw two complete-game shutouts and added a no-hitter. That's not a regional performance. That's a statement.

"I just went out there and did it three outs at a time again," Faircloth said. "I don't want to get too big or look too far ahead. That was their message before we even left the hotel, which was like 'Let's take it one pitch at a time, one out at a time,' rather than looking ahead. So I'm just staying present in the moment and trusting the girls behind me."

Pitching Performance You Don't Forget

In the title game against Saint Mary's, Faircloth was as good as advertised.

She allowed just two hits, set a new MSU single-game NCAA Tournament record with 14 strikeouts and set the program record with six strikeouts looking in any game.

Eight of the nine Saint Mary's hitters were sat down on strikes at least once.

The day before, she'd no-hit host Oregon — the 14th-seeded Ducks — to push the Dawgs into the regional final. Coming back 24 hours later against a Saint Mary's team that'd clawed through the bracket, Faircloth didn't miss a beat.

She also broke the MSU single-season strikeout record during the second inning Sunday, surpassing the previous standard of 250 set by Alison Owen in 2013.

She now has 261 strikeouts on the year. For context, State now has 503 strikeouts as a team this season, making the Bulldogs just the eighth SEC program since 2016 to log a 500-strikeout season and the 26th program nationally since 2013.

Power at Plate When It Mattered

While Faircloth was shutting the door, her teammates took care of the run support early.

Nadia Barbary got things started in the bottom of the first. After Morgan Stiles singled just inside the third base line to open the game,

Barbary launched a two-run homer to left field that gave Mississippi State an immediate 2-0 cushion. It was her third career NCAA Tournament home run, second all-time in program history, and her second multi-home-run NCAA Tournament, making her just the seventh Bulldog ever to accomplish that.

"Freshman year, we started at the bottom a little bit," said Barbary, now in her fourth year with the program. "We didn't make postseason and now we're going to Super Regionals. I wouldn't want to do it with any other group of girls.

"I've said it since the fall: this is the closest-knit team that I've been a part of here at State. Just knowing that we're doing it together and everybody has their role and everybody plays their role really well. It's just a very cohesive group."

Tatum Silva put it away in the sixth. Xiane Romero and pinch-hitter Abigail Stevens singled to set the table and Silva, a transfer who came to Starkville with just one career home run, worked a full count before putting a three-run shot over the right field wall for the 5-0 final.

"I transferred this last year to Mississippi State and I was really excited," Silva said. "I've always been the small hitter, just line grip drive, gap to gap. For the past few weeks, I've really been stepping into a bigger pair of shoes a little bit.

"I've been expecting more for myself and making adjustments and just trusting the Lord in His process and that'd be His will. So yes, this is my second career home."

A Season Built for This Moment

Head coach Samantha Ricketts has guided the Bulldogs to this point on the back of a difficult regular season schedule.

Mississippi State was the only SEC team that played all 24 games against Quad 1 RPI opponents, a grueling gauntlet that prepared the Dawgs for exactly the kind of environment they faced in Eugene.

"I'm just really proud of the way that they've continued to fight and grind all season," Ricketts said. "We were the only SEC team that played all 24 games against Quad 1 RPI teams and it was a grind. It was tough at times for us.

"We definitely took our lumps and I think overall the message was just continuing to fight, leaning on each other and just knowing that we were a team that's built for May."

That's not just limited to any one single person on this team.

"Whether it's Nadia, Tatum, or really anybody in our lineup, just finding ways to come up with some big runs," Ricketts said. "I think overall, just the joy they had playing for each other, something bigger than themselves, was just very evident with this group."

With the win, the Bulldogs are now 41-18 on the season, tying the second-highest win total in school history — matching the 2008 squad. It's the kind of benchmark that shows just how far this program has come.

Next Stop: Norman

The road ahead leads to Oklahoma, the No. 3 overall national seed that locked up their own Super Regional berth by eliminating Michigan.

The Sooners and Bulldogs have met 11 times but only three times as SEC opponents — last year, when Oklahoma swept the series in its first season in the league.

This is only the second Super Regional appearance in MSU history. The first came in 2022, when the Bulldogs upset host Florida State before falling to Arizona in a home Super.

That run was special. This one is shaping up to have its own identity built around one of the most dominant postseason pitching performances in recent program memory and a batting order that came through in the biggest moments of the Eugene weekend.

The series at Norman opens with noon starts on both Friday and Saturday, with a potential Game Three on Sunday if needed.

State's got its ace, it's got its momentum and it's got a roster that's played through adversity all year long.

What happens in Norman is anyone's guess, but the Dawgs have shown they belong on any stage.

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Andy Hodges
ANDY HODGES

Sports columnist, writer, former radio host and television host who has been expressing an opinion on sports in the media for over four decades. He has been at numerous media stops in Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi.

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