OMAHA, Neb.
Riding on shortened sleep and high adrenaline, Texas staved off elimination once again, beating Mississippi State 8-5 in a College World Series game that bled into Saturday morning.
The Longhorns have won three elimination games since dropping their CWS opener last week against the Bulldogs, and Saturday night the two teams will meet again for a spot in the CWS championship round.
The Longhorns’ game was supposed to start at 7 but was pushed back an hour because of the COVID-19-related delay in the earlier NC State-Vanderbilt game.
In the top of the ninth inning, sophomore designated hitter Ivan Melendez crushed a three-run homer to break a 5-5 tie, stomping on home plate in glee.
“I definitely feel it every time I wake up in the morning, we’ve got to walk down for breakfast.
Mississippi State is by far the fresher team, having two days off between its Tuesday night win over Virginia and Friday’s game.
“I believe that our team is playing at a very high level, not only with confidence but with their skill set right now,” he said.