Mississippi State to Open Softball Regional Play in Lafayette against the Baylor Bears

Mississippi State will open up its fourth consecutive postseason appearance Friday at 5:30 pm (CT) when the Bulldogs and Baylor Bears open play in the Lafayette Regional Friday at Lamson Field.

For Mississippi State, a team with 12 all time NCAA tournament appearances with a record of 11-22, the berth marks only the second time in school history that Mississippi State has advanced to the NCAA tournament in four consecutive seasons.

The last three seasons have seen the Bulldogs drop their opening contest of the regional before winning their second game and dropping their third. In order for the Bulldogs (35-19) to change the pattern against Baylor (38-15), the Bulldogs would be best served to score early. The team is 21-1 when scoring first this season.

Should the Bulldogs win the regional, which also includes No. 13 seed Louisiana and Big Sky Champion Weber State, the squad would advance to the first Super Regional in program history. Last year, both Baylor and Louisiana reached the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.

For the Bears, Ari Hawkins leads the way at the plate with a ,417 batting average. As a team, Baykor hits .319. In the circle, Heather Stearna has led the way with a 2.48 ERA and a Big12 best 218 strikeouts.