Friday, April 28
Starkville
6:00 PM
Mississippi State
vs
#20 Kentucky
Bulldogs Set To Honor Seniors In Final Home Series
April 27, 2023 | Softball
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State will host No. 20 Kentucky in its final home series of the regular season on April 28-30 at Nusz Park.
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The Bulldogs will honor their seniors before Saturday's 4 p.m. CT first pitch on SEC Network. In addition, those student-athletes who will graduate in May will be recognized in a pregame ceremony with Dr. Mark E. Keenum on Friday night.
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Sunday is Samoan Day, honoring the heritage of Chloe Malau'ulu, Matalasi Faapito, Leilani Pulemau, Kiarra Sells and head coach Samantha Ricketts.
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The Bulldogs (24-22, 3-14 SEC) saw major contributions from Malau'ulu last weekend, as the senior captain collected hits in every game, including three for extra bases. Defensively, she turned a double play and recorded two outfield assists. She moved up the MSU career leaderboard in multiple categories and is now second all-time in outfield assists (18), 10th in home runs (20) and 10th in multi-hit games (50).
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Joining Malau'ulu in senior festivities will be Shea Moreno, Anna Kate Segars, Grace Fagan and Jackie McKenna. McKenna is currently riding a season-long five-game hitting streak that is one game shy of her career-long streak.
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Saturday, April 29 at 4 p.m. CT | Watch on SEC Network | Live Stats
Sunday, April 30 at 2 p.m. CT | Watch on SEC Network+ | Live Stats
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Milestone Markers: The next home run for Paige Cook and Madisyn Kennedy will be the 20th of their careers and put them in the MSU career top 10. Chloe Malau'ulu reached the same milestone at LSU last weekend.
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Paige Power: Paige Cook leads the team in slugging percentage (.569), on-base percentage (.397), home runs (8) and RBIs (32). She is second in batting average (.302) and third in total bases (66).
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Cap Is Back: Chloe Malau'ulu had a hit in every game the series at No. 15 LSU (4/21-23), including three extra-base hits. It ended a 10-game slump where she had had just two hits.
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Chloe's Cannon: Chloe Malau'ulu needs five outfield assists to tie Bulldog legend and two-time SEC Player of the Year Iyhia McMichael's MSU career record (23).
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Taking On Top Teams: Between No. 20 Kentucky this weekend and No. 17 Auburn next week, State is on pace for 25 games against ranked opponents this year, which would be the most in school history (24 in 2017).
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Freshman Phenom: Josey Marron has struck out 84 batters in her freshman campaign and needs just eight more to join the top five freshman totals in MSU history.
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Disciplined Dawgs: MSU has struck out just 89 times in conference play, which is the fewest in the SEC, despite having already faced three of the top five pitching staffs in strikeouts.
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Head Coach: Rachel Lawson | Record at UK: 560-331-1 (16th Year) | Career Record: 652-415-1 (19th Year)
Batting Average: .300 | Runs Per Game: 5.3 | Hits Per Game: 7.8 | Slugging Pct: .444
ERA: 4.17 | K/7: 7.0 | K/BB Ratio: 2.1 | Opp. Batting Avg: .257
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Series History
Overall: 31-31 | Home: 19-8 | Away: 12-21 | Neutral: 0-2
Current Streak: Lost 1 | Last Meeting: May 1, 2022 in Lexington, Ky. (MSU 5, UK 9)
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About the Wildcats
The Bulldogs and Wildcats have an even series, and it is MSU's only even series in the SEC, though the Bulldogs hold just a two-game edge over South Carolina and a three-game advantage on Arkansas. State is also three games down to Auburn all-time. In Kentucky's last visit to Starkville, MSU won two out of three games in the series in 2017. The Wildcats boasts the longest-tenured full-time coaching staff in the conference with no changes to Rachel Lawson's assistants in 12 years. That is also the longest run of any of Kentucky's teams. Lawson's teams have won at least 30 games in 13 consecutive seasons, excluding the shortened 2020 campaign. Kayla Kowalik holds Wildcat career records for hits, triples, runs and total bases. She is 16 walks and seven stolen bases shy of those records as well.
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The Bulldogs will honor their seniors before Saturday's 4 p.m. CT first pitch on SEC Network. In addition, those student-athletes who will graduate in May will be recognized in a pregame ceremony with Dr. Mark E. Keenum on Friday night.
Â
Sunday is Samoan Day, honoring the heritage of Chloe Malau'ulu, Matalasi Faapito, Leilani Pulemau, Kiarra Sells and head coach Samantha Ricketts.
Â
The Bulldogs (24-22, 3-14 SEC) saw major contributions from Malau'ulu last weekend, as the senior captain collected hits in every game, including three for extra bases. Defensively, she turned a double play and recorded two outfield assists. She moved up the MSU career leaderboard in multiple categories and is now second all-time in outfield assists (18), 10th in home runs (20) and 10th in multi-hit games (50).
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Joining Malau'ulu in senior festivities will be Shea Moreno, Anna Kate Segars, Grace Fagan and Jackie McKenna. McKenna is currently riding a season-long five-game hitting streak that is one game shy of her career-long streak.
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Game Coverage
Friday, April 28 at 6 p.m. CT | Watch on SEC Network+ | Live StatsSaturday, April 29 at 4 p.m. CT | Watch on SEC Network | Live Stats
Sunday, April 30 at 2 p.m. CT | Watch on SEC Network+ | Live Stats
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Leading Off
Barbary Building: Nadia Barbary has the second-highest batting average on the team in April (.235), and her .353 slugging percentage is third.Â
Milestone Markers: The next home run for Paige Cook and Madisyn Kennedy will be the 20th of their careers and put them in the MSU career top 10. Chloe Malau'ulu reached the same milestone at LSU last weekend.
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Paige Power: Paige Cook leads the team in slugging percentage (.569), on-base percentage (.397), home runs (8) and RBIs (32). She is second in batting average (.302) and third in total bases (66).
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Cap Is Back: Chloe Malau'ulu had a hit in every game the series at No. 15 LSU (4/21-23), including three extra-base hits. It ended a 10-game slump where she had had just two hits.
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Chloe's Cannon: Chloe Malau'ulu needs five outfield assists to tie Bulldog legend and two-time SEC Player of the Year Iyhia McMichael's MSU career record (23).
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Taking On Top Teams: Between No. 20 Kentucky this weekend and No. 17 Auburn next week, State is on pace for 25 games against ranked opponents this year, which would be the most in school history (24 in 2017).
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Freshman Phenom: Josey Marron has struck out 84 batters in her freshman campaign and needs just eight more to join the top five freshman totals in MSU history.
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Disciplined Dawgs: MSU has struck out just 89 times in conference play, which is the fewest in the SEC, despite having already faced three of the top five pitching staffs in strikeouts.
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About Kentucky (27-15-1, 8-10 SEC)
Rankings: NFCA Coaches – 20 | USA Softball – 22 | D1Softball – 24 | Softball America – 23Head Coach: Rachel Lawson | Record at UK: 560-331-1 (16th Year) | Career Record: 652-415-1 (19th Year)
Batting Average: .300 | Runs Per Game: 5.3 | Hits Per Game: 7.8 | Slugging Pct: .444
ERA: 4.17 | K/7: 7.0 | K/BB Ratio: 2.1 | Opp. Batting Avg: .257
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Series History
Overall: 31-31 | Home: 19-8 | Away: 12-21 | Neutral: 0-2
Current Streak: Lost 1 | Last Meeting: May 1, 2022 in Lexington, Ky. (MSU 5, UK 9)
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About the Wildcats
The Bulldogs and Wildcats have an even series, and it is MSU's only even series in the SEC, though the Bulldogs hold just a two-game edge over South Carolina and a three-game advantage on Arkansas. State is also three games down to Auburn all-time. In Kentucky's last visit to Starkville, MSU won two out of three games in the series in 2017. The Wildcats boasts the longest-tenured full-time coaching staff in the conference with no changes to Rachel Lawson's assistants in 12 years. That is also the longest run of any of Kentucky's teams. Lawson's teams have won at least 30 games in 13 consecutive seasons, excluding the shortened 2020 campaign. Kayla Kowalik holds Wildcat career records for hits, triples, runs and total bases. She is 16 walks and seven stolen bases shy of those records as well.
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On Deck
MSU will play at Samford on May 4 at 4 p.m. CT before heading to Auburn on May 5-7 for its final SEC and regular-season weekend.Â
Follow the Bulldogs
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."Â
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Players Mentioned
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INF
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P
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INF
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OF
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P
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C/UTL
/ Softball
C/INF
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INF
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OF
/ Softball
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