Sunday, April 9
Bryan-College Station, Texas
2:00 PM
Mississippi State
23-15, 3-7
1
at
2
#24 Texas A&M
24-13, 7-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Mississippi State
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
4
2
Texas A&M
0
0
0
0
1
1
X
2
4
0
Softball Drops Series On The Road At No. 24 Texas A&M
April 09, 2023 | Softball
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – A late home run proved to be the difference on Sunday as Mississippi State fell, 2-1, to No. 24 Texas A&M.
The Aggies took the lead on a leadoff home run in the sixth to break the tie and take the series. MSU (23-15, 3-7 SEC) opened the scoring on a Nadia Barbary home run in the third. MSU's defense made multiple key plays to preserve its lead through four innings, but in the fifth a pair of errors allowed Texas A&M (24-13, 7-7 SEC) to tie the game.
"It was good for us to have a clean first inning. Mata got into some trouble, and she worked herself out of it with help from Madi [Kennedy] on a big-time play," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "That's something that we desperately needed. We talked about being aggressive and attacking. I thought we did a better job of that today throughout the game. It was a little bit more playing our style, but we've got to be able to finish it out as well."
State had a chance to extend its lead in the third inning, loading the bases following Barbary's home run with a walk, a double and a hit-by-pitch. A groundout then ended the threat.
Matalasi Faapito threw the first complete game of her MSU career. It was her sixth career complete game when allowing two runs or less, dating back to her time at New Mexico State.
"We needed some long outings from our pitchers, and we're down a couple of arms. Mata's really looked great all year and just in command and control. She was able to work around some walks for the most part. It's good to see her getting more and more confident in every outing. She's going to be a big part of us moving forward for the remainder of this year and next."
Samantha Ricketts on the adjustment that led to Nadia Barbary's home run…
"I thought she committed to it. After a couple of check swings early in the count, you could kind of see her reset. She went back into what the plan was in the box and readjusted a little bit. Even though it was two strikes, she still got off her best swing. She wasn't afraid and didn't go up there check swinging again, hoping for contact. You always want freshmen to learn these lessons, and whether it's through wins or losses, it's good to see them start to buy in and take those lessons into the next at-bat, next game and even the next pitch."
Matalasi Faapito – Threw her first complete game while at MSU … it was her sixth career complete game while allowing fewer than two runs … struck out five … only one run was earned.
Macy Graf – Singled and walked to extend her reached-base streak in conference play to all 10 games.
Madisyn Kennedy – Made a diving play to end the first inning with the bases loaded … also threw a runner out at the plate in fifth to preserve a tie game.
Chloe Malau'ulu – Doubled once in three trips to the plate.
With two outs, Nadia Barbary hit a solo home run to left.
Mississippi State 1, No. 24 Texas A&M 0
Bottom 5
With one out, Amari Harper was hit by a pitch. On a hit-and-run, Keely Williams singled through the right side, and Harper took third. The throw to third escaped for an error, allowing Harper to score, and the throw to the plate was also wild allowing Williams to reach third.
Mississippi State 1, No. 24 Texas A&M 1
Bottom 6
Julia Cottrill hit a leadoff homer to right-center field.
Mississippi State 1, No. 24 Texas A&M 2
The Aggies took the lead on a leadoff home run in the sixth to break the tie and take the series. MSU (23-15, 3-7 SEC) opened the scoring on a Nadia Barbary home run in the third. MSU's defense made multiple key plays to preserve its lead through four innings, but in the fifth a pair of errors allowed Texas A&M (24-13, 7-7 SEC) to tie the game.
"It was good for us to have a clean first inning. Mata got into some trouble, and she worked herself out of it with help from Madi [Kennedy] on a big-time play," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "That's something that we desperately needed. We talked about being aggressive and attacking. I thought we did a better job of that today throughout the game. It was a little bit more playing our style, but we've got to be able to finish it out as well."
State had a chance to extend its lead in the third inning, loading the bases following Barbary's home run with a walk, a double and a hit-by-pitch. A groundout then ended the threat.
Matalasi Faapito threw the first complete game of her MSU career. It was her sixth career complete game when allowing two runs or less, dating back to her time at New Mexico State.
Quotables
Samantha Ricketts on Matalasi Faapito's complete game…"We needed some long outings from our pitchers, and we're down a couple of arms. Mata's really looked great all year and just in command and control. She was able to work around some walks for the most part. It's good to see her getting more and more confident in every outing. She's going to be a big part of us moving forward for the remainder of this year and next."
Samantha Ricketts on the adjustment that led to Nadia Barbary's home run…
"I thought she committed to it. After a couple of check swings early in the count, you could kind of see her reset. She went back into what the plan was in the box and readjusted a little bit. Even though it was two strikes, she still got off her best swing. She wasn't afraid and didn't go up there check swinging again, hoping for contact. You always want freshmen to learn these lessons, and whether it's through wins or losses, it's good to see them start to buy in and take those lessons into the next at-bat, next game and even the next pitch."
Quick Hitters
Nadia Barbary – Hit her third career home run.Matalasi Faapito – Threw her first complete game while at MSU … it was her sixth career complete game while allowing fewer than two runs … struck out five … only one run was earned.
Macy Graf – Singled and walked to extend her reached-base streak in conference play to all 10 games.
Madisyn Kennedy – Made a diving play to end the first inning with the bases loaded … also threw a runner out at the plate in fifth to preserve a tie game.
Chloe Malau'ulu – Doubled once in three trips to the plate.
Scoring Recap
Top 3With two outs, Nadia Barbary hit a solo home run to left.
Mississippi State 1, No. 24 Texas A&M 0
Bottom 5
With one out, Amari Harper was hit by a pitch. On a hit-and-run, Keely Williams singled through the right side, and Harper took third. The throw to third escaped for an error, allowing Harper to score, and the throw to the plate was also wild allowing Williams to reach third.
Mississippi State 1, No. 24 Texas A&M 1
Bottom 6
Julia Cottrill hit a leadoff homer to right-center field.
Mississippi State 1, No. 24 Texas A&M 2
On Deck
The series finale is set to be SEC Network's Monday night showcase game. The Bulldogs and Aggies will take the field at 6 p.m. CT. MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts will be mic'd up throughout the contest.Follow the Bulldogs
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kennedy, Emiley (6-3)
L: Faapito, Matalasi (4-3)
Batting:
2B: Malau'ulu, Chloe 1
HR: Barbary, Nadia 1
RBI: Barbary, Nadia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Barbary, Nadia 1
HBP: Cook, Paige 1
Batting:
HR: Cottrill, Julia 1
RBI: Cottrill, Julia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cottrill, Julia 1 ; Harper, Amari 1
SB: Wooley, Koko 1
HBP: Harper, Amari 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballOF
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