2021 College World Series Game 12: No. 2 Texas 8, No. 7 Mississippi State 5 (box score) (photo courtesy of NCAA)
After MSU tied it with three in the bottom of the eighth, Ivan Melendez blasted a three-run homer in the top of the ninth to carry UT to victory and set up a final meeting on Saturday for a berth in the CWS Championship Series against Vanderbilt.
“Just another great game,” UT head coach David Pierce said, “two great teams going at it. I thought we did a nice job getting the lead and extending that. But at the same time, we knew they were going to make a run.“
With the score even at 5-5, Mike Antico drew a leadoff walk in the ninth and was sacrificed to second. Zach Zubia also walked, setting the stage for Melendez. He belted a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left center to give the Longhorns (50-16) an 8-5 lead.
“I knew he was going to come back with [the fastball] just because I laid off the slider early in the count and I was seeing it well,” Melendez said. “He threw me a fastball, I swung underneath it. He obviously wanted to come back to that after a big swing and miss. But off the bat it felt pretty good. I knew it was a homer for sure.”
After a walk to Mitchell Daly, play was stopped at 10:39 p.m. CT due to inclement weather and resumed at 1:06 p.m. CT. Two more walks loaded the bases for UT, but Cade Smith got a pair of strikeouts to end the threat.
The Bulldogs (47-17) put two on in the bottom of the ninth but were not able to score.
The Longhorns lit the scoreboard in the top of the first on a homer by Zubia before RBI singles by Kamren James and Logan Tanner in the bottom of the frame gave MSU a 2-1 edge. Daly had a leadoff single in the top of the second and scored on a sacrifice fly by Trey Faltine as UT tied it at 2-2.
In the fifth, Douglas Hodo III had a leadoff walk and came home on a base hit by Antico to give the Longhorns a 3-2 advantage. RBI singles by Antico and Melendez in the seventh put UT on top 5-2.
The Dawgs would tie the game in the eighth as Scotty Dubrule drew a bases-loaded walk and Brad Cumbest followed with a two-run single to level the score at 5-5.
“Long night at the ballpark,” said MSU head coach Chris Lemonis. “We don’t throw enough strikes. I think we walked 11 guys tonight. It’s hard to beat anybody when you walk 11 guys. And you’ve got to tip your heart to their starter. I thought he did a really good job. We had a great eighth inning to get back in the game. We’ve just got to throw strikes, we’ve got to compete in the zone. I think that’s where we fell short a little bit tonight.”
Ty Madden (4 H, 2 R, 3 BB) fanned eight in a six-inning start for the Longhorns. Aaron Nixon (4-3, 1.2 IP, H, 2 BB, K) earned the win.