In one of the most anticipated non-conference games of the season, the 4th ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs would meet the top-ranked UCLA Bruins in the final game of the Amegy Bank College Baseball Classic at Globe Life Stadium. Coming into Sunday’s game, the possibility of getting an early preview of the College World Series, as both the Bulldogs and Bruins are among the few as of right now with big hopes of not only reaching the College World Series, but having success and possibly earning a National Championship as well. 

For Mississippi State, the Bulldogs would come into the matchup with UCLA looking to continue on their winning ways, as they started the season 11-0 with two wins this past weekend over Arizona State and Virginia Tech. 

At 8-2 and the top-ranked team in the country, the Bruins of UCLA would come into the match-up with Mississippi State looking to make a statement as they seek to remain the top-ranked team in the country. 

With stakes so high for an early-season game, Mississippi State and UCLA would turn to their normal Sunday starters on the mound with Duke Stone for the Bulldogs and Landon Stump for the Bruins. Duke Stone lasted 3.2 innings, giving up five hits, three runs, and two strikeouts. Similar outing for Landon Stump as he went 3.1 innings, giving up four hits, two runs, and three strikeouts. 

UCLA would strike first in the top of the second inning with a two-run shot to left field off the bat of Will Gasparino to take an early 2-0 lead over Mississippi State. UCLA would then add another run at the top of the 4th with a base hit from Cashel Dugger to make it 3-0 Bruins. Reed Stallman would slam home a two-run shot to right field to cut the UCLA lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the 4th. From there, Ryder Woodson would bring home Gehrig Frei off a double to the game at 3-3 at the bottom of the 4th inning. Mississippi State would have its breakthrough with a deep sacrifice fly from Jacob Parker that scored Ryder Woodson to take a 4-3 lead over UCLA in the bottom of the 7th inning. However, the Mississippi State lead would be short-lived as UCLA would tie the game at five in the top half of the 9th before the Bruins eventually shut the door in the 10th inning, escaping with an 8-7 victory over Mississippi State. 

For the Bulldogs, that was the first loss of the season, and they’ll now remain on the road as they head to Pete Taylor Park on Tuesday night for a massive showdown with another College World Series contender in Southern Miss. As far as where the Bulldogs are currently, UCLA is good if not elite and Mississippi State had every chance to beat them, I think what we learned from this team this weekend is the potential is there for a special season of Mississippi State, one that will see the Bulldogs right in the thick of the conversation to bring another National Championship home to Starkville. They finished the weekend 2-1 with good wins over Arizona State and Virginia Tech and a heartbreaking defeat to UCLA. This team is already good enough to be a favorite to reach the College World Series and is well on its way to being a legitimate favorite to win a National Championship. 

For UCLA, despite the two losses, it really does seem as if the Bruins are in that top-half conversation with the likes of LSU, Mississippi State, Texas, and Southern Miss. UCLA is very deserving of the top spot in the rankings. With that said, this is likely not the last time these two meet this season, as the path to a National Championship will likely run through these two programs. 

Photo Credits- Both schools baseball accounts on X