Wednesday, April 17
Starkville
6:00 PM
Mississippi State
30-13
0
vs
2
South Alabama
24-15-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
South Alabama
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
4
3
Mississippi State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
Bulldogs Close Homestand With Loss To South Alabama
April 17, 2024 | Softball
STARKVILLE – No. 17/17 Mississippi State fell, 2-0, in a midweek game against South Alabama on Wednesday night.
The Jaguars scored on a wild pitch in the first and a solo homer in the fourth. Josey Marron pitched 4.0 innings, striking out five.
South Alabama's Tori Miller held State to one hit over 5.0 innings, but walked six Bulldog batters as State (30-13, 9-9 SEC) had runners reach base in every frame. Ella Wesolowski had the lone State hit with a double to open the second inning. It was just the third time State had been shutout this year and South Alabama's (24-15-1, 9-6 SBC) fourth SEC victory of the season.
"[Miller] threw a lot of change-ups. You can't beat a change-up pitcher throwing everything in the air," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We just didn't make adjustments. There's a lot of things that we talk about a lot of the time that we just couldn't get away from. We gave up an early lead and as soon as that happened, you could feel the pressure that we were putting on ourselves. You know, credit to her, she did a great job mixing speeds and getting under our bats. We didn't do anything different, and she just kept attacking. You knew they were eventually going to go to their No. 1 because she's a tough matchup no matter how many times you see her."
MSU threatened in the second and fifth, but ultimately left runners stranded on third both times. Following Wesolowski's double, pinch runner Kat Wallace advance to third, and Salen Hawkins walked and stole second before the final out was made. In the fifth, Sierra Sacco walked before stealing second and taking third when the throw sailed into the outfield.
Aspen Wesley threw the final 3.0 innings, only allowing one hit and recording two strikeouts.
"I thought they pitched well enough for us to win. The two runs really should've been one run off Josey. We've got to keep the ball in front and do a better job on that. We need to have their backs. It's a team effort, not just the offense or the defense. It's got to be everyone all around. I think we've got to find a way to be able to answer back, relax and play our game. Especially in these games where we get down in the first, we haven't really been great at that this season."
Salen Hawkins – Stole her second base of the season.
Madisyn Kennedy – Drew a career-high three walks … ranks third on the team in walks.
Sierra Sacco – Stole her 19th base of the season … ranks third in the SEC in stolen bases.
Ella Wesolowski – Hit her eighth double of the season.
Mackenzie Brasher hit a leadoff single up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Brasher then advanced to third on a wild pitch and never stopped running, stealing home.
South Alabama 1 No. 17 Mississippi State 0
Top 4
Gabby Stagner hit a leadoff home run to center field.
South Alabama 2, No. 17 Mississippi State 0
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
The Jaguars scored on a wild pitch in the first and a solo homer in the fourth. Josey Marron pitched 4.0 innings, striking out five.
South Alabama's Tori Miller held State to one hit over 5.0 innings, but walked six Bulldog batters as State (30-13, 9-9 SEC) had runners reach base in every frame. Ella Wesolowski had the lone State hit with a double to open the second inning. It was just the third time State had been shutout this year and South Alabama's (24-15-1, 9-6 SBC) fourth SEC victory of the season.
"[Miller] threw a lot of change-ups. You can't beat a change-up pitcher throwing everything in the air," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We just didn't make adjustments. There's a lot of things that we talk about a lot of the time that we just couldn't get away from. We gave up an early lead and as soon as that happened, you could feel the pressure that we were putting on ourselves. You know, credit to her, she did a great job mixing speeds and getting under our bats. We didn't do anything different, and she just kept attacking. You knew they were eventually going to go to their No. 1 because she's a tough matchup no matter how many times you see her."
MSU threatened in the second and fifth, but ultimately left runners stranded on third both times. Following Wesolowski's double, pinch runner Kat Wallace advance to third, and Salen Hawkins walked and stole second before the final out was made. In the fifth, Sierra Sacco walked before stealing second and taking third when the throw sailed into the outfield.
Aspen Wesley threw the final 3.0 innings, only allowing one hit and recording two strikeouts.
Quotables
Samantha Ricketts on Mississippi State's pitching..."I thought they pitched well enough for us to win. The two runs really should've been one run off Josey. We've got to keep the ball in front and do a better job on that. We need to have their backs. It's a team effort, not just the offense or the defense. It's got to be everyone all around. I think we've got to find a way to be able to answer back, relax and play our game. Especially in these games where we get down in the first, we haven't really been great at that this season."
Quick Hitters
Packed Park – The Bulldogs have now welcomed a program-record 19,409 fans to Nusz Park this season … the previous record was 19,302 in the first year of the stadium in 2016.Salen Hawkins – Stole her second base of the season.
Madisyn Kennedy – Drew a career-high three walks … ranks third on the team in walks.
Sierra Sacco – Stole her 19th base of the season … ranks third in the SEC in stolen bases.
Ella Wesolowski – Hit her eighth double of the season.
Scoring Recap
Top 1Mackenzie Brasher hit a leadoff single up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Brasher then advanced to third on a wild pitch and never stopped running, stealing home.
South Alabama 1 No. 17 Mississippi State 0
Top 4
Gabby Stagner hit a leadoff home run to center field.
South Alabama 2, No. 17 Mississippi State 0
Next Up
The Bulldogs have the weekend off for their regularly-scheduled SEC bye week. State returns to the diamond on Wednesday, April 24 in Birmingham, Alabama. The Bulldogs will play at Samford at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN+.For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Tori Miller (1-0)
L: Marron, Josey (9-7)
S: Olivia Lackie (2)
Batting:
2B: Mackenzie Brasher 1 ; Marley Sims 1
HR: Gabby Stagner 1
RBI: Gabby Stagner 1
SH: Sidney Lee 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mackenzie Brasher 1 ; Gabby Stagner 1
SB: Mackenzie Brasher 1
Batting:
2B: Wesolowski, Ella 1
Base Running:
SB: Sacco, Sierra 1 ; Hawkins, Salen 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
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H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
1
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ SoftballINF
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/ SoftballC/OF
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