Saturday, May 18
Stanford, Calif.
9:50 PM
Mississippi State
34-20
0
vs
7
Cal State Fullerton
38-18
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Mississippi State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
1
Cal State Fullerton
0
0
0
0
7
0
X
7
9
1
Bulldogs’ Season Ends In Stanford Regional
May 19, 2024 | Softball
STANFORD, Calif. – A seven-run fifth inning dashed No. 18 Mississippi State's hopes of returning to the regional finals on Saturday night as the Bulldogs lost, 7-0, to Cal State Fullerton.
The teams remained scoreless into the fifth inning before the Titans batted around in the fifth. A grand slam was the final blow, extending Fullerton's lead from 3-0 to the final margin.
"Obviously, it's always tough when you see a season come to an end," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "That's not how we hoped this weekend would go, but overall, I think there's a lot to be proud of with this group, particularly the senior class and what it took for us to get back to this point. The work really started a year ago when we didn't hear our name last year. We knew that wasn't up to our standard and what we've been working so hard to build, especially coming off that Super Regional in 2022 and then to be down in 2023. It didn't sit right with anyone, coaches, players, staff, and I thought the work really started then about bringing in the right group of kids – transfers, freshmen and returners. We were making sure we didn't feel that feeling we felt last year. I thought we worked harder, we were more focused on our goals. Those were to get ourselves back here, to put ourselves in a position to host, to finish in the top half of the SEC and to be able to compete in postseason. I think we checked all three of those."
State left two runners aboard in the first, fourth and sixth innings and hit into inning-ending double plays in both the third and sixth.
Sierra Sacco reached twice with a single and a walk. Matalasi Faapito drew a career-high three walks. Madisyn Kennedy slugged a double, and Paige Cook added a base hit.
"I think we're really excited about the future of this program, and we've brought in such great athletes the last couple of years. Now, we're starting to be able to see them all out there on the field together. You see the young talent, the freshmen up the middle that we had and behind the plate mixed in with those fifth-year seniors. It was just really special. I think they had a great chance to learn from those upperclassmen with a lot of experience, and they'll be able to pass it on next year to another big recruiting class we have coming in. That's what we're excited about. We want this to be the standard where we have athletes at Mississippi State that can do a lot of things and do it well. That gives us a chance to finish in the top half of the league and to host in postseason and play for a super regional. That will continue to raise the bar and raise the standard, and we're looking towards athletes and players that want to be able to be the first to take us to Oklahoma City. That's the trajectory that we're working for and that we're all focused on. We know it's not something that happens overnight, but we believe in the kids we have. They're all in on the mindset of being gritty, blue-collar players in Starkville."
Matalasi Faapito – Extended her reached-base streak to six games … matched her career high, drawing three walks … batted .368 (7-for-19) in her NCAA Tournament career with seven walks … closed her career with a .737 slugging percentage in the NCAA Tournament that stands third in program history.
Madisyn Kennedy – Doubled for her 26th extra-base hit of the season … finished the year with a .792 slugging percentage that ranked fifth in MSU single-season history.
Sierra Sacco – Extended her hitting streak and reached-base streak to six games … batted .400 (6-for-15) during the streak.
Aspen Wesley – Made the 110th appearance of her career in her final game, which is tied for seventh all-time in program history … closed her career with 357 strikeouts, which ranks eighth in school history … retired the side in order in the final inning of her career.
With one out, Megan Delgadillo dropped a bloop single into left field. She then stole second after her caught stealing was overturned on video review. Bailey Wallace was hit by a pitch, and Kika Ramirez singled to shortstop to load the bases. Jazmin Williams came in to pinch run at first. Hannah Becerra hit a hard grounder off of the third baseman who was draw in for an RBI single, scoring Delgadillo. Peyton Toto then singled into left to score Wallace and Williams. Ava Arce singled up the middle to reload the bases before Colby McClinton hit a grand slam.
No. 18 Mississippi State 0, Cal State Fullerton 7
The teams remained scoreless into the fifth inning before the Titans batted around in the fifth. A grand slam was the final blow, extending Fullerton's lead from 3-0 to the final margin.
"Obviously, it's always tough when you see a season come to an end," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "That's not how we hoped this weekend would go, but overall, I think there's a lot to be proud of with this group, particularly the senior class and what it took for us to get back to this point. The work really started a year ago when we didn't hear our name last year. We knew that wasn't up to our standard and what we've been working so hard to build, especially coming off that Super Regional in 2022 and then to be down in 2023. It didn't sit right with anyone, coaches, players, staff, and I thought the work really started then about bringing in the right group of kids – transfers, freshmen and returners. We were making sure we didn't feel that feeling we felt last year. I thought we worked harder, we were more focused on our goals. Those were to get ourselves back here, to put ourselves in a position to host, to finish in the top half of the SEC and to be able to compete in postseason. I think we checked all three of those."
State left two runners aboard in the first, fourth and sixth innings and hit into inning-ending double plays in both the third and sixth.
Sierra Sacco reached twice with a single and a walk. Matalasi Faapito drew a career-high three walks. Madisyn Kennedy slugged a double, and Paige Cook added a base hit.
Quotables
Samantha Ricketts on looking ahead to the future of the program…"I think we're really excited about the future of this program, and we've brought in such great athletes the last couple of years. Now, we're starting to be able to see them all out there on the field together. You see the young talent, the freshmen up the middle that we had and behind the plate mixed in with those fifth-year seniors. It was just really special. I think they had a great chance to learn from those upperclassmen with a lot of experience, and they'll be able to pass it on next year to another big recruiting class we have coming in. That's what we're excited about. We want this to be the standard where we have athletes at Mississippi State that can do a lot of things and do it well. That gives us a chance to finish in the top half of the league and to host in postseason and play for a super regional. That will continue to raise the bar and raise the standard, and we're looking towards athletes and players that want to be able to be the first to take us to Oklahoma City. That's the trajectory that we're working for and that we're all focused on. We know it's not something that happens overnight, but we believe in the kids we have. They're all in on the mindset of being gritty, blue-collar players in Starkville."
Quick Hitters
Paige Cook – Singled in the final at-bat of her career.Matalasi Faapito – Extended her reached-base streak to six games … matched her career high, drawing three walks … batted .368 (7-for-19) in her NCAA Tournament career with seven walks … closed her career with a .737 slugging percentage in the NCAA Tournament that stands third in program history.
Madisyn Kennedy – Doubled for her 26th extra-base hit of the season … finished the year with a .792 slugging percentage that ranked fifth in MSU single-season history.
Sierra Sacco – Extended her hitting streak and reached-base streak to six games … batted .400 (6-for-15) during the streak.
Aspen Wesley – Made the 110th appearance of her career in her final game, which is tied for seventh all-time in program history … closed her career with 357 strikeouts, which ranks eighth in school history … retired the side in order in the final inning of her career.
Scoring Recap
Bottom 5With one out, Megan Delgadillo dropped a bloop single into left field. She then stole second after her caught stealing was overturned on video review. Bailey Wallace was hit by a pitch, and Kika Ramirez singled to shortstop to load the bases. Jazmin Williams came in to pinch run at first. Hannah Becerra hit a hard grounder off of the third baseman who was draw in for an RBI single, scoring Delgadillo. Peyton Toto then singled into left to score Wallace and Williams. Ava Arce singled up the middle to reload the bases before Colby McClinton hit a grand slam.
No. 18 Mississippi State 0, Cal State Fullerton 7
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rainey, Haley (18-7)
L: Marron, Josey (9-10)
Batting:
2B: Kennedy, Madisyn 1
Batting:
2B: Alcala, Jessi 1
HR: McClinton, Colby 1
RBI: Becerra, Hannah 1 ; Toto, Peyton 2 ; McClinton, Colby 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Delgadillo, Megan 1 ; Wallace, Bailey 1 ; Williams, Jazmin 1 ; Becerra, Hannah 1 ; Favre, Savannah 1 ; Arce, Ava 1 ; McClinton, Colby 1
SB: Delgadillo, Megan 1 ; Verhoef, Kate 1
HBP: Wallace, Bailey 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
0
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
UTL
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
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