STARKVILLE, Miss. -- When facing one of the elite pitching staffs in the nation, the Mississippi State duo of Austin Sexton and Blake Smith proved ready to perform.
Sexton and Smith combined on a five-hitter as fourth-ranked Mississippi State knocked off No. 24 Cal State Fullerton 4-1 on the second day of the Starkville Regional before a crowd of 10,656 at Dudy Noble Field.
No. 6 national seed and regional top-seed MSU (43-16-1) will face either No. 2 seed Cal State Fullerton (36-22) or No. 3 seed Louisiana Tech (41-19) at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, needing one more win to reach its third super regional in the past six seasons.