(Tucson, AZ) Kim Doss
The Tucson Regional was set up for Mississippi State to face Arizona. A team from the conference that has grown in strength over the last decade against a team from the conference that set the table for that growth. North Dakota State tried to put a crimp in those plans, but ultimately both the Bison and the St. Francis Red Flash gave way to the teams from the two power conferences.
Alyssa Palomino makes the out at first base against NDSU Bison in the Tucson Regional on 5/19/2018
Game 3: Arizona vs. North Dakota State
The Bison came out strong in their match-up with Mississippi State on Friday evening, matching the SEC team’s nine hits and outscoring them 5-4. In the late game, Arizona held off the St. Francis Red Flash by a score of 1-0. Neither team looked the same on Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats regained their dominance. Arizona’s bats came alive, while Taylor McQuillin quieted the bats of NDSU in a 5-0 win.
As the designated home team, Arizona jumped out to a quick lead in the top of the first inning. Ashleigh Hughes led off with her first hit of the postseason, sending a bloop single into shallow left field. Reyna Carranco attempted to move her over with a sacrifice bunt, but ended up bunting for a base hit to put the Wildcats on first and second. After quick outs from Alyssa Palomino and Jessie Harper, a two-out line drive single off the bat of Dejah Mulipola brought Hughes in for the first run of the game. Arizona wouldn’t look back.
McQuillin was efficient in the circle. She faced only four batters over the minimum. At one point, she sat down four straight batters on a total of four pitches. The bottom of the third inning required just three pitches to retire the side. McQuillin ended her day with nine strikeouts, giving up two hits and one walk in a shutout.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Wildcats were able to keep passing the bat. Freshman right fielder Jenna Kean was key in keeping the offense moving. Kean had the first four hit game of her college career, going 4-4, stealing a base and scoring two runs.
“She used just about every option she had other than swing away,” said Arizona head coach Mike Candrea.
Other offensive standouts were Carranco and Mulipola, who both went 2-for-4 and drove in a total of three runs. Carranco also reached base on an error in the 7th inning to bring Kean in for her second run of the game.
When McQuillin struck out pinch hitter Dani Renner to end the game, the Wildcats assured themselves a berth in the Regional Championship round. They need to win one game on Sunday to advance to the Super Regionals next weekend.
St Francis player Hayley Norton at bat vs MSU on 5/19/2018
Game 4: Mississippi State vs. St. Francis
In the second game of the day, Mississippi State came out to prove something. Head Coach Vann Stuedeman said that they had a bad taste in their mouths after being knocked into the losers’ bracket on Friday night. The Bulldogs used that to as motivation in a 11-5 win over the St. Francis Red Flash.
“We felt like we needed to make a statement today,” Stuedeman said. “We sort of got exposed yesterday.”
The Red Flash didn’t allow them to make that statement easily, though. After falling behind 5-0 in the third inning, SFU head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift made a pitching change, replacing Abby Trahan with Adrian Smith. Smith quieted the Bulldogs’ bats, and the Red Flash started to make contact of their own against MSU starter Cassady Knudsen.
SFU put three up in the fourth inning and two in the fifth to tie the game at 5-5. Stuedeman felt that she needed to make her own pitching change, and brought in ace Holly Ward to put a stop to the Red Flash’s rally.
“We needed to win that game to get to the second game,” she said. “They’d put a five-spot up on Cassady, and it was 5-5.”
The pitching change changed the momentum again. The Mississippi State offense put up six runs in the top of the sixth inning, while Ward shut down the Red Flash to close out the game.
“At the end of the year, there’s only one team that’s happy,” Patrick-Swift said. While her seniors saw their college careers come to an end, she said, “They gave us all they had.”
MSU’s Carmen Carter at bat vs NDSU at the Tucson Regional on 5/19/2018
Game 5: Mississippi State vs. North Dakota State
The final game of the evening was to determine who would face Arizona in Sunday’s Regional Championship. North Dakota State proved that they could beat MSU on Friday night, but MSU was up to the task on Saturday.
The Bulldogs dominated the game, winning by a score of 12-0 in five innings. As in the game against SFU, they were out there to show who they really were.
“We weren’t ourselves yesterday,” Stuedeman said. “Our kids really responded…It must have looked really good from up [in the stands].”
Holly Ward pitched again for the Bulldogs, throwing a two-run shutout while her offense put up runs in bunches.
The MSU offense looked like it might have a slow day when the first two batters of the game were quickly set down by NDSU starter KK Leddy. A walk to three-hole hitter Sarai Nui opened the floodgates, though.
Nui advanced to second and then scored on two straight singles. Emily Heimberger followed the RBI single by reaching on a throwing error. The ball was ruled to be out of play, turning it into a ground rule double and advancing Morgan Bell to score.
After the error that scored a run, the Bison had difficulty regrouping. By the time the inning ended, the Bulldogs had scored six runs, five of them unearned.
“We just kind of lost our composure,” said NDSU head coach Darren Mueller.
Mueller chose to stick with his junior pitcher rather than bring in Jacquelyn Sertic despite the early deficit. Sertic had already pitched two complete games, including one earlier in the day against Arizona. So, Mueller decided to let Leddy get the experience of trying to come back.
“Once it was six-nothing, you know it’s tough to come back against anybody that’s a good team,” Mueller said. “And KK has some good experience. She’s going to be the person who’s going to be a senior next year. You’d love to see Jacqs go back out there and pitch again, but I talked to KK after the first inning and said, ‘This is kind of a test, really.’ If we want to get back to this position next year, she’s going to be someone we rely on a lot for that.”
Leddy was able to limit the damage for the next three innings, allowing only two more runs after the difficult first. However, the offense wasn’t able to solve Ward the way they had on Friday night.
“I thought she had a little more snap on the ball today than yesterday,” Mueller said.
The Bulldogs’ offense broke out again in the crucial fifth inning. A four-spot on the board pushed the score to 12-0, meaning the Bison were on the brink of a run rule loss to end their season. Ward slammed the door, sitting NDSU down in order to end the game.
Looking Ahead
Now, MSU moves on to face Arizona for the chance to play the winner of the Los Angeles Regional for a trip to the Women’s College World Series.
“It’s Arizona. They do everything well,” Stuedeman said. “Every single person surrounding the program either has a gold medal or a national championship or an ESPY. It’s Arizona Softball. They’re at home, and they’re going to want to defend their turf, and it’s the PAC-12/SEC.”
In the other dugout, Candrea hopes that the Arizona fans show up to help their team defend that turf. After two days of almost empty outfield bleachers, he said that he hopes they come out for Regional Championship day.
“I was very disappointed with the crowd last night and, in fact, today,” Candrea said. “When you’re used to coming out here for a conference game and having the outfield bleachers full. I know it’s hot, but they make a difference. I mean, that’s why we want to host. That’s why we want to be here. Because of our fans. So, I hope they come out tomorrow and support this group of young ladies, because it does make a difference.”
