Jackson Free Press

Mississippi State University saw its historic baseball season come to a close on Saturday night in a 6-5 loss to the University of Arizona in 11 innings. The Bulldogs won the SEC regular season championship and was named a national seed for the first time in school history.

MSU had little trouble in the four-team regional, which the Bulldogs hosted last weekend. The team was a perfect 3-0 as it cruised to the Super Regionals. Arizona had to battle through the loser's bracket in the Lafayette Regional just to reach this Super Regional.

The Wildcats' pitching was the story in game one of the Super Regional. MSU could only muster five hits in a sensational performance by Arizona pitcher Bobby Dalbec. Arizona got eight and 2/3 innings out of Dolbec, who needed just a run in the sixth inning to secure the win.

Game one saw a 37-minute delay due to a power outage all over the MSU campus. But the stoppage didn’t have any effect on Dolbec, who came out to pitch once power was restored.

The power outage seemed like an exact metaphor for the MSU bats, but maybe it was really just foreshadowing the end of the Bulldogs' season.

MSU had a chance in the ninth inning with two men on and two outs. The Bulldogs' superstar freshman Jake Mangum struck out on three straight pitches, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 win in game one.

In game two, both teams put up a run in the second inning after a scoreless first inning. MSU jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the third inning as the Bulldogs got a run off two errors.

The Bulldogs added to their lead in the top of the fourth when right fielder Brent Rooker hit a solo homerun, giving MSU a 3-1 lead. In the seventh inning, MSU was able to manufacture a run to up the lead to 4-1 over the Wildcats.

Rooker went deep once again in the top of the eighth inning, giving the Bulldogs a huge 5-1 lead and needing only six outs for the win. The bottom of the eighth inning is when things fell apart for MSU.

Arizona quickly got two men on first and second when first baseman Ryan Aguilar blasted a three-run home run, cutting the MSU lead to 5-4. The Bulldogs got out of the eight, but the damage was done, and the momentum had shifted to the Wildcats.

MSU went down in order at the top of the ninth inning. Arizona got a double by Cody Ramer to start off the inning. The Bulldogs got a strikeout by pitcher Reid Humphreys before Alfonso Rivas singled to score Ramer to tie the game at 5-5 to force extra innings.

Neither team was able to muster any offense in the 10th inning, as the score stayed 5-5 heading to the 11th inning. MSU went down in order at the top of the …

The field part of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships has been good so far to Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi. Both teams are bringing back at least one national championship.

Curtis Thompson of MSU won the men’s NCAA javelin title and Raven Saunders of UM won the women’s NCAA shot put title. Thompson and Saunders both won in impressive fashion in their respective events.

Saunders broke a 33-year-old NCAA record with her winning throw of 63 feet and five inches, or 19.33 meters. That throw broke the previous mark of 62 feet and 3.75 inches, or 18.99 meters, and Saunders made her historic throw in the rain.

Winning title in the shot put aren’t new for the Charleston, S.C. native. As a freshman at the University of Southern Illinois, she won both the indoor and outdoor titles.

She now holds the all-time NCAA shot put record for both indoor and outdoor events. Saunders' record-breaking throw ranks her fourth among all women in the world and seventh in U.S. women’s shot put history.

Suanders joins former Rebel great and Olympic gold medal winner Brittney Reese as the only woman in UM history to win an NCAA title. She will return to Eugene, Ore. later this summer to take part in the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Thompson finished third last season in the javelin as a freshman in these very same championships. This season, his throw of 254 feet and 9 inches was enough to take home the title.

The sophomore from Florence, N.J. had to fend off athletes from Texas A&M University, Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Southern Misissippi to win. His throw in the final bettered his 140-feet, 11-inch throw to reach the finals.

USM junior Emron Gibbs finished fourth in the javelin with a throw of 244 feet and 10 inches. The St. Andrews, Grenada native was edged out by the winners after he was able to leap into the second place going into the finals.

Currently, the Rebels women are tied for sixth place after six of 21 events in track and field championships with 10 points. The MSU men are tied for fifth place, and the UM men are tied for 39th place after seven of 21 events in the championships with 10 points and one point, respectively.

Sophomore Dempsey McGuigan from London, England finished eighth in the hammer throw, scoring the Rebels men a point.

Neither the Rebels or the Bulldogs teams are done. Both schools still have a chance to win more titles and climb up the leaderboard.

UM still hopes either sophomore Craig Engels or junior Robert Domanic break through in the men’s 1,500-meter final on Friday. Sophomore M.J. Erb is in the finals of the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, senior Branden Greene is in the finals of the men’s high jump, and senior Ryan Walling is in the finals of the men’s 5,000-meters, also on …

Before the Super Regionals begin in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, let’s take a look back at the regionals played last weekend. Those were played out to trim the field down from 64 teams to the current 16 teams.

When the field was announced, the Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference received a just over a quarter of the bids in this year’s tournament. Combined, both conferences placed 17 teams in the regionals.

Know this, it should come as no surprise that these two conferences placed just over half the field in the Super Regionals. Nine teams from the ACC and SEC reached the second round of the tournament.

The ACC placed 10 teams into the field. Four of those reached the Super Regionals and seven of the 10 reached regional finals. At the end of the first weekend the ACC had a 21-12 record.

Every ACC team, but Duke University, in the tournament won at least one game at the regional stage. All four teams, University of Louisville, Florida State University, Boston College and the University of Miami (Fla.), that advanced from the conference went undefeated in regional play.

Duke went 0-2 in regional play, joined by Wake Forest University (1-2) and the University of Virginia (1-2) with losing records in regional play. North Carolina State (3-2), Clemson University (2-2), and Georgia Institute of Technology (2-2) finished at or above .500 in the opening round.

The ACC was considered by many to be the best baseball conference in the nation. Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Boston College all finished with losing records. All were bounced in regional play except for BC who won its regional after the host team (more on this later) flamed out.

NC State and Clemson finished just two games above .500 in conference play. Excluding BC, the other three teams that reached a Super Regional were three of the top four teams in the conference, with Virginia, which went 19-10 in the ACC missing the regional. Louisville (22-8), FSU (16-10) and Miami (21-7) were no brainers for getting into the tournament.

Clemson was the No. 7 national seed and was the only national seed not to advance to a Super Regional. At best, only three ACC teams reach the 2016 College World Series, since BC and Miami must face each other.

Does this mean the ACC was overrated? Perhaps slightly, but Virginia, NC State and Clemson all reached the regional final before bowing out of the tournament. The Wolfpack of NC State even forced a deciding game in their regional.

The SEC placed seven teams into regionals and went 16-6 in the opening round. Five of the seven went on to reach a Super Regional. Both SEC teams that failed to advance in the tournament lost their first two games, getting eliminated.

The University of Mississippi and Vanderbilt University both went 0-2 on their way out. It is kind of understandable that Vanderbilt …

Can you believe that college football is less than three months away?

While there are still some great sporting events this summer, such as the Rio Olympics, it is never too early to begin your plan to consume the opening five days of college football.

Some great games will open the season, and all six major programs in our state could end up with some type of viewing availability. Opening weekend begins on Thursday, Sept. 1, and ends on Monday, Sept. 5, with a huge Labor Day showdown.

Jackson State University will kickoff the season on Thursday on the road against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The kickoff for that game hasn’t been set and neither has any type of TV channel. There is a good chance this game will be streamed by some source, like on the UNLV site.

The only other game to get really excited about on Thursday is the matchup between the University of South Carolina and Vanderbilt University at 6 p.m. on ESPN. If you want other options, other games, such as Indiana University Bloomington at Florida International University and Appalachian State University at the University of Tennessee, will be on TV.

SWACtion meets MACtion on Friday as Mississippi Valley State University travels to Eastern Michigan University. This game was moved from Saturday to Friday, and the kickoff has yet to be announced. It could end up streaming on ESPN3 or another source.

Other Friday games to sink your teeth into are Colorado State University at the University of Colorado Boulder on ESPN, Kansas State University at Stanford University on FS1 and the University of California at the University of Hawaii. Another game of note is Baylor University opening the season at home against Northwestern State University.

Mississippi State University opens the post-Dak Prescott era at home against the University of South Alabama at 11 a.m. on the SEC Network. The Jay Hopson era begins at the University of Southern Mississippi as the team faces the University of Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

Saturday will be a marathon of college football. The day starts at 6:30 a.m. with Georgia Institute of Technology battling Boston College in Dublin, Ireland on ESPN2. The day ends with Brigham Young University and the University of Arizona kicking off at 9:30 p.m. on FS1.

Games of interest throughout the day include the University of Oklahoma against the University of Houston at 11 a.m. on ABC, Texas A&M University hosting the University California Los Angeles at 2:30 p.m. on CBS, and University of Georgia against the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Saturday night features the University of Alabama against the University of Southern California at 7 p.m. on ABC and Auburn University against Clemson University at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Alabama and Clemson met for the college football title last season with the Crimson Tide coming out on top.

Alcorn State University begins …