Peja Goold got her golden ticket on April 25. A little more than a week later, the Mississippi State pitcher was revealed as the No. 10 overall pick in the AUSL College Draft, a second-round selection by the Oklahoma City Spark.
That came while Mississippi State was still chasing history in the NCAA Tournament, and Goold was in the middle of it. The Bulldogs beat No. 3 seed Oklahoma 11-9 in Game 1 of their best-of-three super regional series, and Goold was set to start Game 2 on May 23 as Mississippi State tried to reach the Women's College World Series for the first time. The timeline gave the moment an unusual edge: a player could celebrate a pro future one week and still be asked to carry a college season the next.
For Mississippi State, the draft news extended a run that has become familiar. Goold is the third Bulldogs player to receive a golden ticket, following Sierra Sacco-Ferrie and Raelin Chaffin last season. Both were later selected by the Talons, with Sacco-Ferrie going No. 5 and Chaffin going No. 12 in the 2025 draft. Mia Davidson and Sacco-Ferrie now play for the Portland Cascade, while Kiarra Sells was a provisional draft pick this year and could still join the league's Reserve Pool. Those reserve players can be called up at any time to cover injuries, national team commitments or other roster gaps.
Goold's rise has been built on a season that put her among the SEC's best arms. The Chattanooga transfer made 36 appearances with 25 starts, threw 148.2 innings and posted a 2.17 ERA, ninth in the SEC. Her 0.99 WHIP was tied for sixth in the conference and 15th in the NCAA, and she finished with 178 strikeouts against a.180 opposing batting average. She was also named the Sports Network's SEC Newcomer of the Year.
The AUSL itself is still new. It began in 2025 with six teams, a 24-game schedule and a best-of-three championship series, followed by the All-Star Cup in an individualized format. College players were handed golden tickets during the NCAA season, but the draft had already been held privately before the selections and team destinations were revealed at the AUSL Draft Show on May 4. That rollout let the league drip out its future stars while the college season was still unfolding, a setup that made Goold's case stand out even more.
The numbers around the league help explain why the move matters. In 2025, AUSL players had the chance to earn up to $80,000, with an average salary of $40,000. For a pitcher like Goold, that means the next step is already on the board. For Mississippi State, it means the Bulldogs are still fighting for the biggest prize in college softball, and one of their best arms has one eye on the professional life waiting after it.
What happens next is simple enough to understand and hard enough to do: Goold has to keep Mississippi State alive long enough to make that first Women's College World Series trip, then turn to the Spark and the start of her AUSL career.
