TUCSON—UA junior Taylor McQuillin threw hitless ball for five and two-thirds innings of relief to push Arizona into next week's NCAA Softball Championships Super Regionals, helping the Wildcats (43-14) beat Mississippi State, 4-3, Sunday at Memorial Stadium.
 
The Bulldogs finished their season 38-23 and would have had to beat Arizona twice to earn the round of 16 play.
 
MSU made an early statement with one-out, back-to-back home runs by Mia Davidson and Sarai Niu in the bottom of the first off UA starter Alyssa Denham.
 
Arizona quickly answered. Dejah Mulipola and Aleah Craighton singled in the top of the second to put runners at the corners and Ivy Davis was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jenna Kean walked to drive in a run, and then Ashleigh Hughes hit a two-run single, with Davis sliding around a tag at the plate, to put UA up, 3-2.
 
The lead vanished swiftly. Carmen Carter hit a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the frame. Denham walked the next batter and UA Coach Mike Candrea went to his ace, Taylor McQuillin, who had won UA's two previous games in the tournament. McQuillin got a double-play liner to shortstop Jessie Harper to get out of the inning.
 
Arizona regained the lead in the fifth, but left two runners in scoring position for a total of seven LOBs to that point. Jessie Harper hit a one-out single, Mulipola walked and Craighton had an RBI single, advancing to second on the throw to third. But pitcher Holly Ward (16-10)) got two ground balls to strand the pair.
 
Craighton was 3-for-4 in the game along with the game-winning RBI.
 
MSU brought in Cassady Knudsen to pitch the UA seventh, and she retired the side.
 
McQuillin (28-10) retired 13 consecutive batters until issuing a leadoff walk to Reggie Harrison in the bottom of the seventh. Emily Heimberger popped up trying to bunt, but McQuillin struck out Morgan Bell and Carter to end the game. It was made more interesting by a dropped foul by catcher Mulipola to give Carter one more swing.
 
Arizona awaits its Super Regional fate pending the outcome of theLos Angeles Regional, where UCLA and Cal State Fullerton are matched up in a winner-take-all Game 7 slated to begin this evening at 7:04 p.m. (PDT).

If the Titans upset third-seeded UCLA, the Wildcats would be set to host Super Regionals. Should the Bruins stave off elimination, the Wildcats will head to Los Angeles next week. In that scenario, today's game was the last in Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium's current configuration, built in 1993 but modified in its second year. The main grandstand, pressbox, dugouts and bullpens will be torn down in the coming weeks to make way for a new facility to be completed in time for the 2019 season.