Faircloth Twirls Gem As No. 12 Bulldogs Defeat Georgia Tech

Wednesday, February 25

Atlanta, Ga.

5 p.m.

Mississippi State

15-1

Georgia Tech

12-7

Mississippi State

Georgia Tech

Photo by: Danny Karnik

Faircloth Twirls Gem As No. 12 Bulldogs Defeat Georgia Tech

February 25, 2026 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes

By: Brian Ogden, Director/Communications

ATLANTA – Alyssa Faircloth led No. 12 Mississippi State to a 8-3 victory at Georgia Tech on Wednesday night, striking out 11 batters in 5.1 innings before giving way to Peja Goold who picked up her second save of the season.

Faircloth surrendered a game-tying homer in the bottom of the second but settled in from there. She struck out eight of nine hitters her second time through the Yellow Jacket (12-7) order before giving up a leadoff homer in the sixth.

"I think all her pitches were working, and when she's really able to mix and throw different speeds, use all her pitches, attack different quadrants of the zone, she's a tough matchup," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "You know, I love her presence. I love her confidence out there and how she just continued to go right at them with certain pitches."

The Bulldogs (15-1) launched four homers. Des Rivera started the second inning with a blast to open the scoring, and Nadia Barbary broke the tie in the top of the third with one of her own. In a 4-2 ballgame in the seventh, Kiarra Sells hit a solo shot, and Morgan Bernardini launched a three-run blast to extend the lead.

Bernardini finished the day 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Sells added a double and a second RBI. Rivera also added a single for a multi-hit effort.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on her message to the team…
"We knew going into this week that we had some good true road challenges and something that is going to help prepare us for SEC play on the road, so it was just being ready and taking it one game at a time throughout this five-game stretch. Knowing that, you know, we've got to continue to play Mississippi State softball and not let who we're playing affect it and bring our game to each and every one of them."

Quick Hitters

Nadia Barbary – Hit a solo home run to take the lead in the third … also walked.

Morgan Bernardini – Hit a three-run homer … posted her third multi-RBI and fourth multi-hit game … is now 7-for-11 (.636) during her four-game hitting streak while collecting six RBIs.

Alyssa Faircloth – Struck out eight of nine hitters in her second time through the order … struck out the side in order in the fourth and fifth … finished with 11 strikeouts in 5.1 innings for her fourth career double-digit strikeout game and third of the season … improved to a team-best 6-0 this season.

Des Rivera – Hit her third home run of the year to lead off the second inning … added a single for her third multi-hit game of the year.

Kiarra Sells – Homered and doubled … drove in two runs … leads the team with five multi-RBI games and six multi-hit efforts.

Morgan Stiles - Has reached to open the MSU half of the first inning in 12 of 16 games … singled to run her reached-base streak to four games … has reached safely in all but one games this year.

Scoring Recap

Top 2
Des Rivera homered to left field on the first pitch of the inning.
No. 12 Mississippi State 1, Georgia Tech 0

Bottom 2
Jayden Gailey led off with a home run to left center.
No. 12 Mississippi State 1, Georgia Tech 1

Top 3
Nadia Barbary hit a leadoff home run to left field.
No. 12 Mississippi State 2, Georgia Tech 1

Top 5
With one out, Barbary walked. She scored on Kiarra Sells' double to left center, and Sells advanced to third on a throwing error by the shortstop. Sells scored on Anna Carder's sacrifice fly to center.
No. 12 Mississippi State 4, Georgia Tech 1

Bottom 6
Alyssa Willis hit a leadoff homer to center on the first pitch of the inning.
No. 12 Mississippi State 4, Georgia Tech 2

Bottom 6
Alyssa Willer hit a leadoff homer to center on the first pitch of the inning.
No. 12 Mississippi State 4, Georgia Tech 2

Top 7
With two outs, Sells homered to center field. Tatum Silva and Rivera followed with back-to-back singles, and Ally Supan ran for Rivera at first. Morgan Bernardini hit a three-run homer to center.
No. 12 Mississippi State 8, Georgia Tech 2

Bottom 7
Gailey walked, and Paige Vukodinovich singled. Morici pinch ran for Gailey. Emma Simon lined out to right, but the throw to the infield got away, allowing the runners to move to second and third. Holly Medina walked to load the bases. With two outs, Willer singled through the left side to score Morici.
No. 12 Mississippi State 8, Georgia Tech 3

Next Up

Mississippi State will make its first ever trip to Clemson, South Carolina, and McWhorter Stadium for the Tiger Invitational beginning on Friday. The round robin tournament will see MSU play Wofford, Georgia Southern and No. 25 Clemson once each before being seeded for the final game on Sunday.

State begins play against Wofford at 9 a.m. CT on Friday. The game will not be broadcast.

For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."