Mississippi State claims Starkville Regional title

STARKVILLE – In their first postseason games at Dudy Noble Field in half a decade, the Mississippi State Bulldogs remained true to themselves.

The end result was a clean sweep of the Starkville Regional, punctuated with a 19-5 drubbing of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns in the final on Sunday night. The Bulldogs (43-17) will now travel to face Georgia in the Athens Super Regional starting on Friday.

"You can put the formula together, but they still have to follow the lead and do it, and they did it," Bulldogs coach Brian O'Connor said. "And now they get an opportunity to play again next weekend."

Gehrig Frei and Jacob Parker each had solo home runs for the Bulldogs in the top of the first. Ryder Woodson followed up with one of his own in the second to make it 3-0.

Louisiana got a run on the board in the third. Then in the fourth, Kevin Milewski and Frei each hit one-run singles. Ace Reese put the cherry on top with a two-run bomb.

The Cajuns (41-25) scratched across two more runs in the next two innings, but State responded with a five-run top of the seventh. It was wrapped up with Woodson's second home run, a two-run bomb to make it 13-3.

"We all say every time before we go up to hit, ‘we're all due,' every single time we go up there," Woodson said. "The offense is going well. Everything's going great right now. We look forward to this coming weekend."

Mississippi State launched seven home runs against the Ragin' Cajuns.

With a super regional appearance on the line, Ryan McPherson looked like his old self. The sophomore hurler went five innings, allowing two runs on five hits, walking no one and striking out seven on 83 pitches. It was the most innings and pitches he's thrown since March 13.

"I thought McPherson was outstanding. It worked," O'Connor said. "Our plan that was laid out about 10 weeks ago was for tonight."

Parker, a native of Purvis, made the most of his first experience with postseason ball at Dudy Noble. The freshman outfielder went 4 for 4 with four RBIs, a double and two home runs in the finale. For his efforts, he was named the regional's Most Outstanding Player.

"You grew up watching guys like Jake Mangum and Tanner Allen, and it's just so special that I can contribute in that way," Parker said. "Maybe a kid can look up to me in that way and see that."

Reese, Frei, Reed Stallman, Tomas Valincius, Duke Stone and Vytas Valincius joined Parker as Bulldogs to make the all-tournament team.

This is the 11th time State has advanced to a super regional and the first since 2021. Mississippi State has won 13 straight games in home regionals.

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