No. 7 seed Mississippi State hosts No. 10 seed Notre Dame in NCAA super regionals

The best-of-three series begins Saturday at 1 p.m.

By Collin Wilmes@CollinWilmes Jun 12, 2021, 11:29am EDT

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The No. 7 overall seed Mississippi State baseball team is back in the NCAA super regionals for the fifth consecutive season and is set to face No. 10 overall seed Notre Dame in a best-of-three series at Dudy Noble Field beginning Saturday at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN.

The Bulldogs (43-15) swept through the Starkville Regional with an 8-4 win over Samford, a 16-4 win over VCU and a 6-5 win over Campbell. MSU’s five straight super regional appearances is the longest active streak in the nation.

MSU was led by sophomore Kamren James and senior Rowdey Jordan in the regional round. James, who was named MVP of the Starkville Regional, hit .385 with five hits, two home runs and drove in a regional-best seven RBIs. Jordan recorded eight hits, including four doubles, and scored seven runs.

Senior Tanner Allen is batting .395 with 88 hits, 58 RBIs and 59 runs this season. Jordan is hitting .329 on 73 hits with a team-high 64 runs to go with 40 RBIs.

The Fighting Irish (33-11) went 3-0 in the South Bend Regional and outscored their opponents 50-5 to reach the super regionals for the first time since 2002. They opened the regional with a 10-0 win over Central Michigan before beating UConn 26-3. In the championship game, Notre Dame beat Central Michigan 14-2.

Senior Niko Kavadas hit .600 with six hits, five home runs, 13 RBIs and nine runs in the regional and was named MVP.

Senior Ryan Cole leads the team with a .326 batting average with 46 hits, 38 runs and 32 RBIs. Kavadas has recorded a team-high 62 RBIs and 21 home runs on a .309 batting average.

Saturday’s game will be the seventh meeting for the Bulldogs and Irish on the diamond. Notre Dame leads the series 4-2. Four of the six meetings between MSU and Notre Dame have come in the NCAA Tournament, with each team winning twice.

Saturday, June 12 (1 p.m. CT)

Probable Starters:

MSU: RHP Will Bednar (7-1, 3.17 ERA)

ND: LHP John Michael Bertrand (8-2, 2.98 ERA

TV: ESPN

Live Video: https://hailst.at/2SrJspY

Live Audio: https://hailst.at/audio

Live Stats: http://hailst.at/StatBroadcast

Sunday, June 13 (5 p.m. CT)

Probable Starters:

MSU: LHP Christian MacLeod (6-4, 3.81 ERA)

ND: TBA