Friday, March 10
Starkville
6:00 PM
Mississippi State
17-6
0
vs
7
#1 Oklahoma
19-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Oklahoma
1
2
2
0
0
0
2
7
9
1
Mississippi State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
State Drops Matchup With Nation’s Top-Ranked Team
March 10, 2023 | Softball
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State dropped a 7-0 ballgame to No. 1/1 Oklahoma on Friday night in front of a raucous crowd of 1,056 fans.
State fell behind, 5-0, through the first three innings before Reis Beuerlein took over in the circle and threw 3.0 scoreless frames. In the top of the seventh, she gave up a two-run homer, but finished the night with just three hits through 4.0 innings. Beuerlein was the second freshman arm for the Bulldogs after Josey Marron started the ballgame.
"We went with Josey first. She's been throwing really well for us, and I also wanted to give her a challenge before we got to SEC play and throw her against the best," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I thought for the most part she handled herself well, fell behind a couple times but was able to bounce right back. Reis, I thought that was one of her best outings that she has given us. It's really what we saw out of her in the recruiting process and what she's done at practice. It was good to see it all come together for her. To get a couple zeros later in the game, I thought, was huge. She had the one mistake, but so what, she bounced right back and got the next three."
The Bulldogs (17-6) got infield singles from Paige Cook, who also drew a walk, and Brylie St. Clair. St. Clair's was of the bunt variety, giving her nine bunt singles on the year. Macy Graf and Chloe Malau'ulu also drew walks.
State put runners in scoring position in both the fourth and the sixth, both times with just one out. In the fourth, Cook was stranded on second following a strikeout and a ground out. In the sixth, St. Clair was doubled off second on a line drive to the shortstop to end the inning.
The attendance marked MSU's largest regular-season crowd since 2018 and the Bulldogs' third audience of at least 1,000 fans under Ricketts.
"That's what they do to you. They put pressure on, hit the balls hard. They have speed and are just very well-rounded top to bottom. We knew that coming in, and I thought we started to play our game a little better, a little more so later in the ballgame. That was the message, trying to pick up from there and just be who we are and not worry about what we can't control, which is what they are going to do. I thought we relaxed a little bit and had some better at bats and swung within our plan, but we have to be ready to play our game and come out relaxed tomorrow."
Reis Beuerlein on her three scoreless innings …
"I was ready to go. I had a good warmup, and I just wanted to go out there and just kind of practice, work on being calm in the circle, talking to my defense. That really kind of kept me dialed in. I was just mixing pitches and moving spots, spinning the ball around, so that was able to give me those scoreless innings".
Paige Cook on the Oklahoma pitcher tonight…
"I think we just needed to settle into our plan a little sooner. We definitely got a little anxious at the plate, just wanting to hit everything that we saw, and we were really excited to face her [Nicole May]. I think we needed to stick to our plan a little bit more."
Reis Beuerlein – Struck out two and allowed three hits in 4.0 innings … went three scoreless frames before allowing a two-run homer.
Paige Cook – Drew a walk in the second inning … beat out an infield single in the fourth … along with Brylie St. Clair gave MSU 36 infield hits this year as a team.
Josey Marron – Allowed just three earned runs in 3.0 innings … struck out four.
Brylie St. Clair – Beat out a bunt single in the sixth … now 9-for-10 when bunting for a hit this year … leads the team with 13 infield hits this year.
Jayda Coleman started the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Haley Lee hit a single to right field, scoring Coleman.
No. 1 Oklahoma 1, Mississippi State 0
Top 2
Cydney Sanders was hit by a pitch with two outs. She scored on Quincee Lilio's double to left field. Lilio scored when Coleman's grounder to first base wasn't fielded cleanly.
No. 1 Oklahoma 3, Mississippi State 0
Top 3
Haley Lee singled to left field. With one out, she scored on Alyssa Brito's double to left field. Brito advanced to third on Kinzie Hansen's single to left. Hansen took second on a wild pitch. Brito tagged up on Alynah Torres's fly out to left field and scored on a throwing error from the outfield.
No. 1 Oklahoma 5, Mississippi State 0
Top 7
Jocelyn Erickson singled to right field. Brito hit a two-run homer to center field.
No. 1 Oklahoma 7, Mississippi State 0
State fell behind, 5-0, through the first three innings before Reis Beuerlein took over in the circle and threw 3.0 scoreless frames. In the top of the seventh, she gave up a two-run homer, but finished the night with just three hits through 4.0 innings. Beuerlein was the second freshman arm for the Bulldogs after Josey Marron started the ballgame.
"We went with Josey first. She's been throwing really well for us, and I also wanted to give her a challenge before we got to SEC play and throw her against the best," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I thought for the most part she handled herself well, fell behind a couple times but was able to bounce right back. Reis, I thought that was one of her best outings that she has given us. It's really what we saw out of her in the recruiting process and what she's done at practice. It was good to see it all come together for her. To get a couple zeros later in the game, I thought, was huge. She had the one mistake, but so what, she bounced right back and got the next three."
The Bulldogs (17-6) got infield singles from Paige Cook, who also drew a walk, and Brylie St. Clair. St. Clair's was of the bunt variety, giving her nine bunt singles on the year. Macy Graf and Chloe Malau'ulu also drew walks.
State put runners in scoring position in both the fourth and the sixth, both times with just one out. In the fourth, Cook was stranded on second following a strikeout and a ground out. In the sixth, St. Clair was doubled off second on a line drive to the shortstop to end the inning.
The attendance marked MSU's largest regular-season crowd since 2018 and the Bulldogs' third audience of at least 1,000 fans under Ricketts.
Quotables
Samantha Ricketts on MSU's response to two errors in the game…"That's what they do to you. They put pressure on, hit the balls hard. They have speed and are just very well-rounded top to bottom. We knew that coming in, and I thought we started to play our game a little better, a little more so later in the ballgame. That was the message, trying to pick up from there and just be who we are and not worry about what we can't control, which is what they are going to do. I thought we relaxed a little bit and had some better at bats and swung within our plan, but we have to be ready to play our game and come out relaxed tomorrow."
Reis Beuerlein on her three scoreless innings …
"I was ready to go. I had a good warmup, and I just wanted to go out there and just kind of practice, work on being calm in the circle, talking to my defense. That really kind of kept me dialed in. I was just mixing pitches and moving spots, spinning the ball around, so that was able to give me those scoreless innings".
Paige Cook on the Oklahoma pitcher tonight…
"I think we just needed to settle into our plan a little sooner. We definitely got a little anxious at the plate, just wanting to hit everything that we saw, and we were really excited to face her [Nicole May]. I think we needed to stick to our plan a little bit more."
Quick Hitters
Packing the Park – The Bulldogs welcomed 1,056 fans to Nusz Park tonight, which is tied for the 15th-largest crowd in the stadium's history (vs. Alabama, March 18, 2017) … it is the largest regular season crowd in the facility since April 21, 2016 against Florida … it is the third 1,000-plus crowd under head coach Samantha Ricketts.Reis Beuerlein – Struck out two and allowed three hits in 4.0 innings … went three scoreless frames before allowing a two-run homer.
Paige Cook – Drew a walk in the second inning … beat out an infield single in the fourth … along with Brylie St. Clair gave MSU 36 infield hits this year as a team.
Josey Marron – Allowed just three earned runs in 3.0 innings … struck out four.
Brylie St. Clair – Beat out a bunt single in the sixth … now 9-for-10 when bunting for a hit this year … leads the team with 13 infield hits this year.
Scoring Recap
Top 1Jayda Coleman started the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Haley Lee hit a single to right field, scoring Coleman.
No. 1 Oklahoma 1, Mississippi State 0
Top 2
Cydney Sanders was hit by a pitch with two outs. She scored on Quincee Lilio's double to left field. Lilio scored when Coleman's grounder to first base wasn't fielded cleanly.
No. 1 Oklahoma 3, Mississippi State 0
Top 3
Haley Lee singled to left field. With one out, she scored on Alyssa Brito's double to left field. Brito advanced to third on Kinzie Hansen's single to left. Hansen took second on a wild pitch. Brito tagged up on Alynah Torres's fly out to left field and scored on a throwing error from the outfield.
No. 1 Oklahoma 5, Mississippi State 0
Top 7
Jocelyn Erickson singled to right field. Brito hit a two-run homer to center field.
No. 1 Oklahoma 7, Mississippi State 0
On Deck
The Bulldogs and Sooners meet again on Saturday in a nationally-televised ballgame on SEC Network. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. CT. Following that game, MSU will host Omaha at approximately 5:30 p.m.Follow the Bulldogs
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: May, Nicole (6-0)
L: Marron, Josey (7-1)
Batting:
2B: Brito, Alyssa 1 ; Lilio, Quincee 1
HR: Brito, Alyssa 1
RBI: Lee, Haley 1 ; Brito, Alyssa 3 ; Lilio, Quincee 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Coleman, Jayda 1 ; Lee, Haley 1 ; Erickson, Jocelyn 1 ; Brito, Alyssa 2 ; Sanders, Cydney 1 ; Lilio, Quincee 1
SB: Coleman, Jayda 1
HBP: Sanders, Cydney 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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/ SoftballOF
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