Texas beats Mississippi State, forces Saturday rematch for chance to go to national championship
The Texas Longhorns avoided elimination late Friday night in the College World Series against Mississippi State. The Horns beat the Bulldogs 8-5 behind timely hitting and a big 3-run home run in the 9th inning.
The game had more than an hour rain delay in the 9th inning and finished around 2:30 a.m. ET.
With Texas’ win, it sets up a Saturday night rematch against Mississippi State for a spot in the College World Series final series. The winner will face Vanderbilt in the national championship.
Friday night’s game was all about Texas outplaying Mississippi State for much of the game. The Longhorns were the more aggressive team all night, and they capitalized with runners on base. Center fielder Mike Antico came up huge for Texas, going 2-for-4 with 2 timely RBIs. The big hit, however, came from Ivan Melendez in the top of the 9th. Melendez dropped a 3-run bomb to give Texas the 8-5 lead.
Ivan Melendez brought the lightning and the thunder! @TexasBaseball leads 8-5.#CWS x 📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/HgiNe6IJLp
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 26, 2021
Melendez’s home run came after Mississippi State tied the game in the 8th inning 5-5. Rowdey Jordan fouled out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Ty Madden started for Texas, and he threw a gem. Madden pitched 6 innings, allowed just 2 runs and struck out 8 Vanderbilt hitters. Houston Harding started for Mississippi State. He lasted 4.2 innings, allowing 3 earned runs.
Saturday night’s game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.