Mississippi State will play UCLA Friday night at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. It’s the first time they’ve played the Bruins since battling for the national championship in 2013.
Making it to the 2013 College World Series finals was one of the greatest moments in MSU baseball history. It marked the furthest any Bulldog team had reached, better than even the 1985 team or any of the other eight teams that went to Omaha.
When MSU beat Oregon State to clinch their spot in the final, they did it on a Friday afternoon, leaving the entire weekend to ponder what could be as the championship series began on Monday. It also allowed droves of maroon faithful to make the journey to Nebraska. There were 20,000+ State fans on hand with only a handful of UCLA fans.
The story of both teams coming into the final was their pitching ability and scoring just enough runs to win. The story of the final was UCLA’s excellence in playing “small ball” while MSU seemed tight and not ready for the moment.
Game 1 was close with a 3-1 final score, but it never really seemed like State was going to win. The formula the Bulldogs had used in their run to this point was to get a lead early on while the starter (who was usually only pitching a few innings) was in, then let Chad Girodo, Ross Mitchell or Johnathan Holder close it out.
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In this game, however, UCLA was able to score because a wild pitch on strike three allowed Kevin Kramer to reach base instead of being the second out, and he would eventually score. The Bruins tacked on two unearned runs (throwing error on a sacrifice bunt) in the 4th. A solid performance by Girodo (7.2 IP, 0 ER) was for naught as the Bulldogs only run would come on a bases loaded walk by C.T. Bradford.
Game 2 featured seldom-used (in the postseason) Luis Pollorena getting the start. His night started with a HBP and his own throwing error. A sac fly and it was 1-0 Bruins already, and Pollo’s night was done after just one inning. Then the Ross Mitchell magic ended as he gave up three runs in two innings pitched and that was all she wrote. The Bulldog bats only mustered five hits and never scored in an 8-0 shutout.
Kendall Graveman, who had been State’s most consistent pitcher all season, never saw the mound in the final series. MSU’s two best hitters – Adam Frazier and Hunter Renfroe – were just 1 for 15 in the two games. Wes Rea and Brett Pirtle didn’t provide much either at 2 for 14.
It was a disappointing showing for the Diamond Dawgs in the CWS Final of 2013, but at the end of the day, that year will always be remembered for the exciting run which got them there. And there is some solace in the fact that while State was close to a national championship they weren’t close when it came to defeating UCLA….so you don’t really feel like you let it get away.
At least for one early regular season game tonight, the Bulldogs will have the opportunity to play UCLA again and come away with a W that eluded them in 2013.