Mississippi State punches its third straight ticket to the College World Series

George County’s Logan Tanner hit a three-run homer to cap a six-run second inning and Mississippi State advanced to its third straight College World Series with an 11-7 victory over Notre Dame on Monday night in the Starkville Super Regional.

Mississippi State (45-16) advances to play Texas (47-15) at 6 p.m. on Sunday — seeking its first title in 12 trips to the CWS.

MSU coach Chris Lemonis is in the College World Series for the second time in three years after the 2020 CWS was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For Lemonis, it’s a matter of simply continuing the winning culture of the program.

“Well, it was here when we got here,” he said.” “Obviously when you decide to go to Mississippi State, you’re going to a program where that’s the aspiration. That’s why we have the ballpark we do, the fanbase we do. Our goal was to keep it moving and keep it moving forward. The nice part is all these young players in the program right now have experienced it and they want it. That just continues to grow and sets the expectation higher. That’s why I’m thankful that Tanner [Allen] and Rowdey [Jordan] decided to come back.”

Mississippi State centerfielder Rowdey Jordan denied Brooks Coetzee with a diving catch to end the top of the second, and then the Bulldogs broke it open. Mississippi State loaded the bases twice in the inning, scoring runs on a fielder’s choice, sacrifice fly, Kamren James’ RBI single, and Tanner’s homer.

Tanner Allen made Mississippi State’s second diving catch, stranding two in the fourth, and the Bulldogs hit three doubles in a two-run inning.

Mississippi State starter Houston Harding struck out four in four innings, and Landon Sims (4-0) added four more strikeouts in the final four innings.

Notre Dame (34-13) trailed 10-2 but got within four when Niko Kavadas blasted his 22nd home run of the season in the seventh to extend his single-season program record. Kavadas grounded out with two on and two outs in the ninth.

Notre Dame starter Will Mercer threw 23 pitches in the first and four Irish pitchers combined for five walks in the second.

This story was originally published June 15, 2021 at 9:25 AM.