State Hosts No. 15 Tennessee For Midweek Conference Doubleheader

STARKVILLE – In a throwback to the 2000s, Mississippi State softball will play a midweek doubleheader in conference play on Wednesday, May 5. The Bulldogs are set to host No. 15 Tennessee as they make up two-thirds of the originally-scheduled series from April that was postponed due to COVID-19 within the Tennessee program.

MSU (27-22, 3-15 SEC) is coming off a series victory on the road at South Carolina. The Bulldogs won the final two games of the series after being walked off on Friday night, outscoring the Gamecocks, 13-3, in the final two matchups.

Montana Davidson had a breakout weekend, batting .400 with an 1.100 slugging percentage while matching or breaking her single-game career highs in home runs, RBIs and runs scored. She hit two homers in the loss on Friday night and drove in six runs over the three games.

Tennessee (38-8, 11-7 SEC) has won its last four SEC series and has only lost one non-conference game. The Lady Vols add to MSU's No. 13 strength of schedule and will be the Bulldogs' eighth ranked opponent this season. With the addition of No. 22 Georgia later this week, MSU will finish the regular season with 18 games against NFCA-ranked competition.

Game Coverage

Game 1 – 1 p.m. CT | Watch on SEC Network+ | Live Stats
Game 2 – 3:30 p.m. CT | Watch on SEC Network+ | Live Stats

Leading Off

Dominant Davidson: Montana Davidson batted .400 with a double and two home runs in the series at South Carolina for an 1.100 slugging percentage. She also had six RBIs, double that of any teammate.

Thunder Rolling In: Mia Davidson has tied MSU baseball legend Rafael Palmeiro for the all-time home run record at MSU in either sport (67). She is tied for third in SEC softball history and will tie Georgia's Alyssa DiCarlo for second in league history with her next blast.

Loving The Long Ball: State's 62 homers this year trail only the 2019 campaign's 72 for the most in program history. Fa Leilua (17), Mia Davidson (15) and Carter Spexarth (10) have given MSU three individuals with 10 or more homers a season for just the third time in program history, including 2019 when Davidson and Leilua were again part of the trio.

We Don't Move: The Bulldogs are third nationally in hit-by-pitches (56) behind NCAA-leader Ole Miss (73) and South Carolina (62).

Milestone Watch: Emily Williams is one strikeout away from 400 for her career and would be the fifth Bulldog to reach the mark.

Lineup Log: Samantha Ricketts has used 30 different batting orders and 15 different fielding alignments, but the Bulldogs used the same lineup card in four straight games, before switching to a new combination for the last two.

Lulu Leading Off: When Chloe Malau'ulu reaches base to open the game, State is 17-6 this season. She has reached base in 37 of the 83 innings she's led off and scored in 18 of those innings.

Win The Late Innings: One of Ricketts' process points this season is winning the late innings (from the fifth on). State has outscored opponents 90-61 in the late innings, including a 38-13 margin in the sixth.

About the Opponent

Tennessee
Rankings: NFCA Coaches - 17 | USA Softball – 15 | Softball America - 19 | D1Softball - 17
Head Coach: Ralph Weekly and Karen Weekly | Record at UT: 945-293-2 (20th Year)
Ralph Weekly Career Record: 1446-474-2 (34th Year) | Karen Weekly Career Record: 1168-390-2 (25th Year)
Batting Average: .316; Runs Per Game: 6.0; Hits Per Game: 8.0; Slugging Pct: .539
ERA: 1.62; K/7: 6.7; K/BB Ratio: 4.1; Opp. Batting Avg: .164

The Lady Vols have won five of their last six games, including a series sweep of Auburn last weekend. After dropping its first two SEC series, Tennessee softball has won at least two-of-three games in its last four SEC sets against Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia and Auburn. Callie Turner has won three games in the circle in that span. In her last four starts, Turner has given up just five runs on eight hits in 18.0 innings. The Lady Vols lead the SEC in stolen bases per game (1.91) and are 88-for-97 (.907) on steal attempts this season.

On Deck

MSU's final regular-season series comes at home this weekend as the Bulldogs host No. 22 Georgia for three games on May 7-9. The Friday night contest will include a pregame graduation ceremony for those Bulldogs who earned their degrees this semester, and first pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

Saturday's game is also set to be nationally televised on the SEC Network, beginning at 1 p.m. CT. The series finale on Sunday will include pregame Senior Day ceremonies with first pitch set for 1 p.m. CT.

Follow the Bulldogs

For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."

State Hosts No. 15 Tennessee For Midweek Conference Doubleheader

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mia Davidson

Montana Davidson

Fa Leilua

Chloe Malau'ulu

Carter Spexarth

Emily Williams

Mississippi State University Athletics

State Hosts No. 15 Tennessee For Midweek Conference Doubleheader

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mia Davidson

Montana Davidson

Fa Leilua

Chloe Malau'ulu

Carter Spexarth

Emily Williams

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