STARKVILLE, Miss. – An epic pitchers’ duel broke out in Game 1 of the NCAA Super Regional between Arizona and Mississippi State.

On one side: the Bulldogs’ Dakota Hudson, taken in the first round of the MLB draft by the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night. On the other: Bobby Dalbec, taken in the fourth round by the Boston Red Sox on Friday – as a third baseman.

Dalbec won the battle. And now the underdog Wildcats are one victory away from reaching the College World Series.

Dalbec pitched 8 2/3 shutout innings as Arizona overcame a power outage and defeated No. 6 national seed Mississippi State 1-0 in front of a stunned crowd of 12,913 at Dudy Noble Field.

The UA now has two games to win one in the best-of-three series. The Wildcat also have ace Nathan Bannister available to pitch one of those games. Bannister didn’t start Friday after throwing 100-plus pitches Monday, his second start in a four-day span.

Dalbec pitched like an ace. Much as he did Sunday in the first of three straight elimination-game victories in the Lafayette Regional, Dalbec battled from start to finish Friday. He pitched out of trouble in each of the first four innings, stranding seven runners.