No. 9 overall seed Florida State rallies to beat Mississippi State 5-2, win Tallahassee Regional
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Cal Fisher tied the game with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning and Max Williams gave No. 9 overall seed Florida State the lead with a two-run single in the eighth as the Seminoles rallied to beat Mississippi State 5-2 on Sunday and win the Tallahassee Regional.
Florida State (41-14), in its 61st appearance in the NCAA Tournament, clinched a berth in the super regionals. The Seminoles have advanced to the College World Series 24 times and never won it. They were the runners-up in 1970, 1986 and 1999. Only Texas (38) and Miami (25) have more CWS appearances than Florida State.
Advertisement
Gehrig Frei put Mississippi State (36-23) on top when he homered to left field on the first pitch of the game from Wes Mendes (7-2). Joe Powell homered to left off Mendes in the fifth for a 2-0 lead.
Mendes gave up five hits with nine strikeouts.
Florida State couldn't get anything going against Bulldogs starter Karson Ligon despite getting four hits and drawing five walks in his four innings. Luke Dotson (1-2) pitched three innings and surrendered the lead on four hits and a walk. Ligon and Dotson both struck out seven. Ryan McPherson gave up the final two runs.
Fisher homered off Dotson after Myles Bailey led off with a double. Dotson left after issuing a leadoff walk in the eighth. Bailey drove in the third run of the inning with a single.
Advertisement
Mississippi State was making its 41st appearance in the tournament. The Bulldogs have made 12 CWS appearances. They won it in 2021 and were the runners-up in 2013.
The Seminoles beat the Bulldogs 10-3 on Saturday.
___
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ryan Dotson launches GOP bid for Congress, says he'll slay ‘woke' giant in D.C.
State Rep. Ryan Dotson, R-Winchester, launched his Republican campaign for Congress on Tuesday night with a thunderous prayer calling on God and the voters to let him be the David who slays the Philistine giant Goliath. 'I do know this: I'll fight. And when David fought the giant, he knocked him out, he cut his head off. I want to bring a trophy back to this district,' Dotson, a three-term state representative, told an audience of about 70 supporters at his campaign kickoff dinner at the Bluegrass Community and Technical College campus in Winchester. Dotson said among his priorities in Congress would be codifying President Donald Trump's far-reaching executive orders and Elon Musk's federal government cuts made through the Department of Government Efficiency so they can't easily be reversed in the future. Also, Dotson said, he will fight 'the woke madness' and 'be a thorn in the side of everybody who's got a D behind your name.' 'Washington, D.C., over the last several years has appeared off course,' Dotson said. 'Since the days of (former President Barack) Obama, we have seen the spiraling out of control, the culture wars that has taken place, the cancel culture that is taking place in America, that you can't speak freely without being canceled, you can't tell someone how you really feel without being ostracized. 'And we've seen that Obama made it happen.' Dotson hopes to win Central Kentucky's 6th Congressional District in the 2026 election. The incumbent, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Mitch McConnell, who is not running for reelection next year. The district represents 16 counties around Lexington. Although it has voted consistently Republican since Barr was first elected in 2012, nonpartisan election handicapper Sabato's Crystal Ball on Tuesday shifted the 6th District from 'safe Republican' to 'likely Republican' based on a number of factors, including the arrival of a 'credible' Democratic candidate, former three-term state Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson of Lexington. Dotson, 52, is a Pike County native who has spent most of his adult life in Winchester. He and his wife, Tresa, founded and operated several area businesses, including restaurants, a daycare and a roofing company. He's also a Pentecostal church pastor who has made regular mission trips to foreign countries. Taking an interest in politics, Dotson ran as a Democrat for the state Senate in 2010 and as a Republican for Clark County judge-executive in 2014, losing each time. He finally prevailed in 2020 by unseating incumbent state Rep. Les Yates of Winchester in the Republican primary and winning that year's general election. In the General Assembly, Dotson quickly established himself as a vocal social-conservative. He helped lead the fight in 2022 for a bill to ban transgender women from women's sports at public schools and universities, overcoming Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's veto. Two years later, he successfully sponsored a bill that struck down local ordinances in Lexington and Louisville that protected the right of tenants to use federal low-income housing vouchers, such as Section 8 vouchers. Again, his bill overcame a veto from Beshear. Standing with landlords, Dotson said his 2024 bill would 'safeguard our citizens from being forced to lease their properties to the government for those on assistance programs, unless the property owner chooses to.' Nearly a dozen Republican members of the legislature spoke in support of Dotson's congressional campaign at Tuesday's dinner, as did David Walls, executive director of the conservative Family Foundation. They said Dotson was a fighter who forced fiercely conservative bills through the General Assembly even when some Republican leaders were hesitant, fearing a political backlash from moderate voters. The lawmakers described praying with Dotson at the Capitol, sometimes on the House steps before they went into session, as they sought guidance for legislation to ban abortion, transgender health care and gender-neutral bathrooms. 'I honestly think Ryan goes to bed at night and lays there thinking about standing up against the woke ideology that we have in Frankfort and in D.C. We have a lot of craziness,' said state Sen. Greg Elkins, R-Winchester. When it was his turn to speak, Dotson warned the crowd about the risks of having 'ungodly people in leadership.' 'But when the righteous are in rule, the people rejoice,' he said to enthusiastic applause. 'I feel a mandate, I truly do.' 'There's been times I get frustrated, I get bent out of shape, and I've stopped and said, 'God, why am I even here?' I go to my office, lock the door, and (said) to the Lord, 'You need to show me.' And he will speak to my heart, 'You are holding back the darkness.' And I will see a vision of the cloud, of a dark cloud just coming over the state of Kentucky. And I alone, with some of my colleagues, were standing there, holding back the darkness.' Other than Dotson, several Central Kentucky Republicans reportedly are considering a run for Congress, including state Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe, R-Lexington; state Rep. Deanna Gordon, R-Richmond; state Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville; and former state Senate GOP Leader Damon Thayer of Georgetown. Several Democrats also are expected in their own contested primary, including two already declared: Stevenson, the former state representative from Lexington, and, as of Wednesday, former Lexington-Fayette Urban Council councilman David Kloiber, who ran for mayor of Lexington in 2022.
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Early look at All-Star Game ballots, what's up with the Braves & College World Series
With the Midsummer Classic set to take place in Atlanta at Truist Park on July 15th, today is the day that All-Star Game ballots have dropped—and it's up to the public to make their choices. While some players might be locks to start the game (looking at you, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani), there are a few sports that could see some interesting position battles. Advertisement Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman go down the ballots for the American and National League squads, making their picks for who they think should be voted in as starters. They wonder if Juan Soto can beat out an impressive trio of NL outfielders, why Dave Roberts could be selective with his Los Angeles Dodgers players and whether Rafael Devers even bothers to bring a glove with him to Atlanta. Later on this episode of the Baseball Bar-B-Cast, the guys examine the weird season that the Atlanta Braves are having—and why it's oddly similar to the Boston Red Sox—before going around the league to discuss all the injury news surrounding the Houston Astros and New York Mets, among other teams. They close the show with the latest news surrounding the Men's and Women's College World Series. (3:38) - AL All-Star starting squad (20:54) - NL All-Star starting squad Advertisement (40:29) - What's up with the Braves? (56:45) - BBQ Boo Boo List updates (1:07:26) - College World Series news . (Photo by) (. (Photo by)) Follow the show on X at @CespedesBBQ Follow Jake @Jake_Mintz Follow Jordan @J_Shusterman_ 🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Predicting LSU baseball's starting pitching rotation for super regional vs. West Virginia
Predicting LSU baseball's starting pitching rotation for super regional vs. West Virginia LSU baseball used a 10-6 victory over Little Rock to extend its season to the super regional round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. West Virginia comes to Baton Rouge to start the best-of-three series on Saturday. With the Tigers' season on the line, head coach Jay Johnson made shifts to his batting lineup on Monday. They proved to be instrumental as Ethan Frey tallied four hits and four RBI in the two spot. There are questions about how Johnson will handle the lineup this weekend, but we feel pretty good about what LSU's rotation will look like. Aces Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson rank second and third, respectively, in the country in strikeouts. They peaked at the right time with dominant outings in the regional and will look to have repeat performances vs. the Mountaineers. If LSU can't win the first two games, it will need to name another starter for Sunday's rubber match. Johnson went with Zac Cowan to begin Monday's game but pulled him with one out in the second inning in favor of Casan Evans. Though largely used as relievers, both earned the chance to start from their relief success. Here is a projected starting rotation for LSU in the Baton Rouge Super Regional against West Virginia. Friday: Kade Anderson Going with the projected top-five draft pick to start the series is a no brainer for LSU. Anderson is coming off one of his best starts of the year against Dallas Baptist where he struck out 11 through seven scoreless frames. In his usual Friday starting spot coming off six days of rest, Anderson should be a lock to begin the Tigers' quest for a College World Series berth. With the lefty on the mound, LSU's batters can step into the box confident that they won't get into a shootout. Saturday: Anthony Eyanson Eyanson logged two appearances in the regional, the most recent coming in relief Monday. With four rest days, he'll be ready to go far in a Saturday start. Should LSU win Friday's game, he'd be relied on to deliver the most important win of the season. The right-hander provides the energy needed to pump up the team and crowd. He held Little Rock scoreless in the regional opener through 7.2 innings, getting the Tigers on the right path to the next round. Sunday: Casan Evans Johnson's gamble of using Cowan to start Monday didn't come to fruition. Evans made the most of his opportunity to keep the game within reach for LSU, finishing with one run allowed and 12 strikeouts through six innings of relief. If the series goes to three games, expect Evans to make the fourth start of his collegiate career. By this point, he'll be familiar with West Virginia's hitters while Cowan will likely be available out of the bullpen. What if Evans has to be used in games one or two? There's a chance LSU can't afford to wait until Monday to deploy Casan Evans. As the team's third-best pitcher, he may be called upon in a high-leverage situation in games one and two. That could leave LSU scrambling on Monday if WVU forces a game 3. I don't see a scenario where Johnson burns Evans for the weekend unless he knows it's going to end the series in two games. If LSU needs Evans on Saturday or Sunday, I would not expect a 110 pitch outing. That would keep some gas in the tank for Monday, but Evans probably wouldn't start. That leaves guys like Cowan, Jaden Noot, or Chase Shores. All have started for LSU this year, but all have question marks. All three have the stuff, too; it's just a question of whether they'll have the command.
