No. 23 MSU Softball Pulls Off Saturday Sweep
STARKVILLE – No. 23 Mississippi State’s doubleheader Saturday featured a showcase of the Bulldogs’ powerful offense and dynamic pitching.
The Bulldogs (15-3) rode their hot bats to a 12-2 win against Alcorn State to start the day, before a pitcher’s duel led to a 5-2 victory against Troy to end Day 3 of the Bulldog Invitational.
Mississippi State’s win against Troy was the closest game the Bulldogs have played in Starkville since a 2-1 win against then-No. 23 Louisiana on Feb. 13. Their only home games have been at this weekend’s tournament that has seen the Bulldogs reach a run-rule victory in every game.
“I think we needed that game” MSU coach Samantha Ricketts said in her post-game press conference. “I think we needed a close game that came down to the end that we weren’t pressing and just trusted our training and our pitching staff. It was good to see that resolve and that fight out of the team late in the game today.”
The Bulldogs’ offense didn’t come to life until the bottom of the sixth inning, but pitcher Josey Marron had pitched a scoreless game so far.
“Josey (Marron) held her own in that circle for a very long time and gave the offense some time for us to produce some runs and have her back,” Nadia Barbary said. “Her being able to hold her own was really great.”
When the MSU offense came to life, it did so in a big way.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Jessie Blaine drew a walk to load the bases and Jadyn Burney scored the game’s first run on a wild pitch during the next at-bat. Two batters later and the bases loaded again, Kylee Edwards hit her first career grand slam to put MSU up 5-0.
Troy’s first batter the next inning hit a full count double to center field and Libby Baker hit a two-run home run in the next inning. Rebekah Johnson pinch-hit for Troy and reached base with a single in the next at-bat. With the score at 5-2 and a runner on base, Ricketts decided to make a pitching change and brought in Aspen Wesley to save the game.
Wesley struck out the first batter she faced and then forced a pair of groundouts to finish the game and record her second save of the season. Marron (6-0) allowed just six hits and two walks in six innings before she was relived from the circle.
MSU’s first game Saturday was a much different story. The Bulldogs scored five runs in the first two innings and eight in the fourth to run-rule Alcorn State, 13-2.
The Bulldogs compiled 10 hits and drew a season-high nine walks in the early game, including a pair of home runs. Barbary smashed her second home run of the season in the second inning and Ella Wesolowski hit her second of the season, too, in the fourth inning to cap off the Bulldogs’ offensive showcase.
Blaine and Riley Hull each were 2-for-2, with Blaine adding two RBIs and a walk, at the plate against Alcorn State and Barbary was 2-for-3 with 4 RBIs.
“I’m really happy for the way we came out,” Ricketts said. “I thought we responded in Game 1, looking to score early and often. I thought we kind of took a while to get going, but they really answered well. It was good to get a lot of players in there and get them some time, some experience as well as different arms, just trying to rest some of our pitchers we've thrown a lot. I thought that was good.”
Lexi Sosa started the game for MSU and pitched the first four innings, recording a season-high five strikeouts. Hosanna Lindblade got her first collegiate strikeout in her collegiate debut in the final inning against Alcorn State.
MSU caps off the Bulldog Invitational on Sunday with another double header. The Bulldogs will face Alcorn State at 12:30 p.m. and Samford at 3 p.m. Both games will be shown live on ESPN+.
