Mississippi State advances to Tallahassee Regional final

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Elijah MacNamee homered for the third straight game and Tanner Allen had three doubles for Mississippi State, which defeated Samford 9-8 on Sunday to advance to the NCAA Tournament's Tallahassee Regional final.

Six of Mississippi State's 15 hits were for extra bases. Jake Mangum also homered in the first inning, and the Bulldogs will face Oklahoma on Sunday night. Mississippi State (33-26) will need to win twice to advance to a Super Regional for the second straight year. The Sooners won the first meeting 20-10 on Friday.

The game was tied at five before Mississippi State scored three runs in the seventh. The key hit was a two-run single by Hunter Stovall off Samford's Wyatt Burns (5-4), who allowed four runs and five hits in three innings of relief.

Chad Billingsley pitched a season-high seven innings, allowing seven runs (four earned) on seven hits. JP France went 1 1/3 innings to earn his second save of the season.

Anthony Muline had two hits, including a home run, and drove in two runs for Samford, which ends its season 37-26.