The Mississippi State softball team celebrates winning the NCAA Norman Super Regional on Sunday.
MSU Athletics
NORMAN, Okla. – No. 20 Mississippi State did what many thought was impossible, downing No. 2 Oklahoma on the road, 6-0, to reach the program’s first Women’s College World Series.
The historic win saw the Bulldogs snap the Sooners’ run of five straight trips to Oklahoma City and became the first team to shut out OU (52-10) since Alabama did so in the 2019 World Series – a 399-game streak.
“I’m just even more excited for this group. I think for us right now, obviously, this is something that’s never been done before, and I’m just so proud of this group,” MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “When nobody believed in us, they believed it themselves and in each other. It was the 25 that I’ve got, and the parents up in the stands. Really, I love how we came out – loose, free and just wanted to compete and leave everything we had on the field. Delainey (Everett) just competed her butt off, and what an outstanding game. Nobody in our dugout was surprised, because that’s the type of pitcher, the type of athlete, that Delainey is. She’s a dog through and through, and she was going to give literally everything she had for her team in that moment.”
Delainey Everett pitched a gem. She went seven innings, allowing just three hits. The junior left hander struck out three in the longest outing of her career.
Mississippi State (43-19) got on the board early as Kinley Keller drove in three runs in the first three innings. From there it was MSU’s turn to launch some long balls. Paige Ernstes led off the fourth with a solo homer, and Morgan Bernardini hit a two-run shot in the fifth.