They needed an extra day to do it, but the Mississippi State Bulldogs advanced to the College World Series with a 6-5 win against No. 6 Virginia on Monday.
NCAA Baseball Tournament 2013 scores: Mississippi State advances
The Mississippi State Bulldogs are the latest team to punch their ticket to the College World Series.
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The two teams resumed play on Monday after their game was suspended due to rain in the seventh inning on Sunday. The Bulldogs led 5-3 when play resumed and added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning. As it turned out, they needed it.
When play resumed, the Bulldogs turned to closer Jonathan Holder to get the final six outs. Holder set a school record this season with 17 saves and he was able to get the job done again on Monday, although it wasn’t easy. After a quick 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, Holder ran into some trouble in the ninth. A two-out RBI single cut Mississippi State’s lead to 6-4. The Bulldogs appeared to have the game wrapped up on a grounder to first, but a bad toss to first scored another run and left Virginia with men on second and third base.
The Cavaliers were unable to complete the comeback, however, as Derek Fisher grounded out with the tying and winning runs in scoring position to end the game.
With the win, Mississippi State advanced to the College World Series for the ninth time in school history. The Bulldogs will face the winner of the series between Oregon State and Kansas State. OSU and KSU play the deciding game of their series on Monday night, with first pitch scheduled for 10 p.m. ET.
A complete College World Series bracket can be found on the NCAA’s official website.
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