Sunday, March 30
Starkville
1 p.m.
Mississippi State
29-8, 6-3
2
vs
7
#1 Texas
34-3, 7-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Texas
2
0
0
0
4
0
1
7
11
0
Mississippi State
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
6
0
State Drops Rubber Match With No. 1 Texas
March 30, 2025 | Softball
STARKVILLE – No. 18 Mississippi State was held scoreless into the seventh inning by No. 1 Texas in the deciding game of the series on Sunday, eventually falling by a score of 7-2.
The Bulldogs (29-8, 6-3 SEC) scattered six hits, highlighted by a Lexi Sosa double. Nadia Barbary extended her hitting streak to five games, and Kylee Edwards pushed her reached-base streak to 11 contests. Morgan Bernardini also collected a double, and Jessie Blaine grabbed a single.
"I think this team has higher expectations than that," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I know they are the No. 1 team in the country, but we expect ourselves to compete every game. It just didn't seem like we did that today. I think there is a lot of disappointment. Good, I'd much rather we be frustrated and upset than just happy to take one. That's not this team. That's not the mentality. That's not the goal that we have for the rest of the season. I think there's a lot to learn from it, and that's always been the goal, from preseason on. What can we take away from each weekend and make sure we are better for it moving forward? Being able to stack up and see how you go head-to-head against the No. 1 team in the country is a great way to see where we can improve."
Josey Marron threw the final 2.2 innings, allowing just one run. Defensively, it was Bernardini's day as the ball kept finding its way to her glove. She finished with a career-high seven putouts in left field.
"I think the good to take away from it, it was good to see Josey back out there and attacking the zone again because we are going to need her. Raelin [Chaffin] has done a great job throwing a lot of innings for us all season, but in the SEC, we are going to need some help. I think Josey has all the talent to do that and to compliment what [Chaffin] and Delainey [Everett] have done for us."
Lexi Sosa on the series...
"I mean we took Game 1, but I think everyone on this team expected to take all three. That's just our team. We are going to compete with them. You know they could be No. 1, but on the field there's no rankings out there. We just went out there and did our very best and competed. I'm definitely frustrated that we couldn't take more than one, but we're definitely going to exceed our expectations after this."
Lexi Sosa on Josey Marron's pitching...
"She did amazing. She was super composed, which is super awesome. She's a real upperclassman taking on that opportunity, so I'm really excited to see what she's going to do the rest of the season for us here at State."
Morgan Bernardini – Finished with a career-high seven putouts … recorded five of the first six outs in the ballgame … hit her sixth double of the year … extended her career-long reached-base streak to 16.
Kylee Edwards – Extended her reached-base streak to 11 games, two shy of her career-long streak … walked and singled … finished the series with a .429 average.
Josey Marron – Threw the final 2.2 innings … struck out one and allowed just three hits.
Lexi Sosa – Hit her fifth double of the season.
Morgan Stiles – Hit a sacrifice fly … finished the series with an RBI in every game.
Ashton Maloney hit a leadoff triple to left field before Kayden Henry tripled to center field, scoring Maloney. Henry scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Mia Scott.
No. 1 Texas 2, No. 18 Mississippi State 0
Top 5
Maloney singled through the left side to open the inning and scored on Henry's double down the left field line. Scott drove in Henry with a single to left field before Joley Mitchell hit a two-run homer to center field.
No. 1 Texas 6, No. 18 Mississippi State 0
Top 7
Shylien Brister singled to the pitcher to start the inning and advanced to second when Victoria Hunter walked. Katie Stewart doubled through left field, scoring Brister.
No. 1 Texas 7, No. 18 Mississippi State 0
Bottom 7
Kylee Edwards hit a leadoff single through the right side before Morgan Bernardini doubled to right-center. Paige Ernstes pinch hit and walked, loading the bases. Morgan Stiles hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Edwards, and Bernardini advanced to third on the throw. Sierra Sacco followed with another sacrifice fly to score Bernardini.
No. 1 Texas 7, No. 18 Mississippi State 2
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
The Bulldogs (29-8, 6-3 SEC) scattered six hits, highlighted by a Lexi Sosa double. Nadia Barbary extended her hitting streak to five games, and Kylee Edwards pushed her reached-base streak to 11 contests. Morgan Bernardini also collected a double, and Jessie Blaine grabbed a single.
"I think this team has higher expectations than that," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I know they are the No. 1 team in the country, but we expect ourselves to compete every game. It just didn't seem like we did that today. I think there is a lot of disappointment. Good, I'd much rather we be frustrated and upset than just happy to take one. That's not this team. That's not the mentality. That's not the goal that we have for the rest of the season. I think there's a lot to learn from it, and that's always been the goal, from preseason on. What can we take away from each weekend and make sure we are better for it moving forward? Being able to stack up and see how you go head-to-head against the No. 1 team in the country is a great way to see where we can improve."
Josey Marron threw the final 2.2 innings, allowing just one run. Defensively, it was Bernardini's day as the ball kept finding its way to her glove. She finished with a career-high seven putouts in left field.
Quotables
Head coach Samantha Ricketts on Josey Marron being back in the circle..."I think the good to take away from it, it was good to see Josey back out there and attacking the zone again because we are going to need her. Raelin [Chaffin] has done a great job throwing a lot of innings for us all season, but in the SEC, we are going to need some help. I think Josey has all the talent to do that and to compliment what [Chaffin] and Delainey [Everett] have done for us."
Lexi Sosa on the series...
"I mean we took Game 1, but I think everyone on this team expected to take all three. That's just our team. We are going to compete with them. You know they could be No. 1, but on the field there's no rankings out there. We just went out there and did our very best and competed. I'm definitely frustrated that we couldn't take more than one, but we're definitely going to exceed our expectations after this."
Lexi Sosa on Josey Marron's pitching...
"She did amazing. She was super composed, which is super awesome. She's a real upperclassman taking on that opportunity, so I'm really excited to see what she's going to do the rest of the season for us here at State."
Quick Hitters
Nadia Barbary – Extended her hitting streak to five games … recorded her 13th multi-hit game of the season, with two singles.Morgan Bernardini – Finished with a career-high seven putouts … recorded five of the first six outs in the ballgame … hit her sixth double of the year … extended her career-long reached-base streak to 16.
Kylee Edwards – Extended her reached-base streak to 11 games, two shy of her career-long streak … walked and singled … finished the series with a .429 average.
Josey Marron – Threw the final 2.2 innings … struck out one and allowed just three hits.
Lexi Sosa – Hit her fifth double of the season.
Morgan Stiles – Hit a sacrifice fly … finished the series with an RBI in every game.
Scoring Recap
Top 1Ashton Maloney hit a leadoff triple to left field before Kayden Henry tripled to center field, scoring Maloney. Henry scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Mia Scott.
No. 1 Texas 2, No. 18 Mississippi State 0
Top 5
Maloney singled through the left side to open the inning and scored on Henry's double down the left field line. Scott drove in Henry with a single to left field before Joley Mitchell hit a two-run homer to center field.
No. 1 Texas 6, No. 18 Mississippi State 0
Top 7
Shylien Brister singled to the pitcher to start the inning and advanced to second when Victoria Hunter walked. Katie Stewart doubled through left field, scoring Brister.
No. 1 Texas 7, No. 18 Mississippi State 0
Bottom 7
Kylee Edwards hit a leadoff single through the right side before Morgan Bernardini doubled to right-center. Paige Ernstes pinch hit and walked, loading the bases. Morgan Stiles hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Edwards, and Bernardini advanced to third on the throw. Sierra Sacco followed with another sacrifice fly to score Bernardini.
No. 1 Texas 7, No. 18 Mississippi State 2
Next Up
The Bulldogs will play their final midweek and final non-conference game against Central Arkansas at Nusz Park on Tuesday, April 1 at 5 p.m. From there State heads to Knoxville to take on No. 9 Tennessee on April 4-6.For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kavan, Teagan (15-2)
L: Chaffin, Raelin (16-4)
Batting:
2B: Henry, Kayden 1 ; Stewart, Katie 1
3B: Maloney, Ashton 1 ; Henry, Kayden 1
HR: Mitchell, Joley 1
RBI: Henry, Kayden 2 ; Scott, Mia 2 ; Mitchell, Joley 2 ; Stewart, Katie 1
SF: Scott, Mia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Maloney, Ashton 2 ; Henry, Kayden 2 ; Scott, Mia 1 ; Brister, Shylien 1 ; Mitchell, Joley 1
Batting:
2B: Sosa, Lexi 1 ; Bernardini, Morgan 1
RBI: Sacco, Sierra 1 ; Stiles, Morgan 1
SF: Sacco, Sierra 1 ; Stiles, Morgan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Edwards, Kylee 1 ; Bernardini, Morgan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
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H
2
RBI
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AB
4
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0
H
1
RBI
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AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
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Players Mentioned
INF
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OF
/ SoftballC/OF
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INF
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