Mississippi State advances to first Women's College World Series with win over softball juggernaut Oklahoma

· Yahoo Sports

For the first time in school history, Mississippi State softball is heading to the Women’s College World Series — and they took down a Goliath to do it. The No. 5-seeded Bulldogs defeated Oklahoma 6-0 on Sunday, shutting out the No. 1-seeded Sooners in the NCAA super regionals and punching a ticket to Oklahoma City.

After taking the first game of the best-of-three series 11-9 behind an epic late-inning comeback, Mississippi State faltered in Game 2, falling 7-1 to the dominant Sooners. That brought things to a decisive Game 3 on Sunday, which the Bulldogs controlled from the very start.

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Mississippi State pitcher Delainey Everett threw seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits and three walks and throwing three strikeouts. Meanwhile, on offense, the Bulldogs steadily built a lead throughout the game, going up 6-0 in the fifth inning after a two-run homer from left fielder Morgan Bernardini.

With Mississippi State holding that score heading into the bottom of the seventh, Oklahoma put two runners on base and looked to try and get some points on the board. But the Bulldogs picked up the final out, and immediately celebrated making history.

Postgame, Everett spoke highly of her team and their grit.

“An underdog is still a freakin’ dawg,” she said. “Everything that we worked for came through today, and we ain’t done yet.”

This was just the second NCAA super regional appearance for the Bulldogs, who made that phase of the tournament for the first time in 2022.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, is a juggernaut of college softball: The Sooners have won eight NCAA softball titles, including four straight trophies from 2021 to 2024. Sunday’s defeat broke a nine-year streak of WCWS appearances for Oklahoma, who had made it every year since 2016.

Additionally, the Bulldogs’ shutout was the first game for the Sooners without a run since 2019, snapping a 399-game streak without going scoreless, per ESPN.

In the stands, Mississippi State has had an unlikely good luck charm: Broccoli Guy, a Pacific Northwest-based fan who is known for dancing in the stands with a head of broccoli in each hand. The fan, whose real name is Jim Stewart Allen, has inspired the Bulldogs to adopt broccoli as a symbol throughout their run. It’s unclear whether Allen will join the team in Oklahoma City, but it seems likely that they will keep the broccoli spirit alive.

They are probably going to need it. Though the WCWS brackets aren’t set yet, Mississippi State’s potential opponents for the tournament include other dominant teams like No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 UCLA and No. 3 Texas Tech.

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