Ricketts Fastest To 200 Wins As Bulldogs Win Twice Friday

Friday, February 6

Waco, Texas

10 a.m.

Mississippi State

2-0

Northwestern State

0-1

Northwestern State

Mississippi State

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Ricketts Fastest To 200 Wins As Bulldogs Win Twice Friday

February 06, 2026 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Northwestern State Box Score (PDF)Wichita State Box Score (PDF)

By: Brian Ogden, Director/Communications

WACO, Texas – Samantha Ricketts became the fastest Mississippi State softball head coach to win 200 games when the No. 22 Bulldogs defeated Northwestern State, 9-3, on Friday. State followed that performance up with a 5-2 extra-inning victory over Wichita State.

Ricketts needed just 319 games to reach the milestone, which also makes her the second fastest MSU head coach in any women's sport to record 200 victories in Starkville.

"It's really special to think back on all of the players and staff who have been a part of it and just, you know, how much each and every win and player has been through this program is meant to us," Ricketts said. "They've all been such a huge part, buying into to all of us and what we stand for and what we're working to do. And so I'm thankful for it, for the ones that have been here for a lot of it, and I'm looking forward to getting some more."

The Bulldogs (3-0) won Game 1 with the long ball. Taylor Troutman homered in each of the first two official at-bats of her career, plating three total runs. Xiane Romero also left the yard. Abby Grace Richardson provided an RBI double, and Anna Carder and Morgan Bernardini each drove in one.

Facing Wichita State, however, it was the pitching's time to shine. A tightly contested ballgame was tied 1-1 after seven innings of play. The Bulldogs broke it open with four runs in the eighth thanks to a three-run homer from Nadia Barbary, who finished with four RBIs in the contest.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on the extra-innings win …
"That was a gritty, resilient win. I think they showed a lot of fight, a lot of heart. I think the biggest thing was the maturity and not getting too big when it was 0-0 for most of the game and answering right back, finding ways, to manufacture runs on balls that didn't leave the infield. It was another gritty performance from Peja [Goold] coming in, you know, bloody nose and all. She just kept fighting for us. Anna Carter's pinch hit off the bench was huge. Soup [Ally Supan] running the bases for us. I think Morgan Stiles just continues to hit the ball well, and obviously Nadia's ball to, you know, break it open. I like what they all did and also the catchers. I think they did a great job back there in both games, really working for the pitchers and keeping everything off the backstop."

Nadia Barbary on her message to her teammates going into extra innings …
"I was just saying to stay calm. We do our best when we're calm, and, we know we have a runner on second. You know, get the bunt down. Move her over and just have team at bats. They changed the pitcher. We knew it was a dropball pitcher, so I knew I had to get under it. Luckily I got under it enough, and the ball went flying.

Quick Hitters

Call The Bomb Squad – State totaled four more home runs across the two games … State has scored 15 of its 24 runs via the long ball this season (62.5 percent) … last year, MSU scored 37.6 percent of its runs with a homer.

The Magic Number – The Bulldogs improved to 154-20 under Samantha Ricketts when scoring at least five runs … State has scored five or more run in 84 of MSU's 104 wins since the start of 2023.

Where Are You Going? – Defensively, MSU retired a pair of runners at first base against Wichita State … the team turned an unconventional double play, catching the batter returning to the wrong portion of the double base in the second inning … Des Rivera picked off a runner in the fourth.

Samantha Ricketts – Became the fastest Bulldog head coach to win 200 games at MSU against Northwestern State, needing just 319 games … is the 13th MSU head coach in any sport to win 200 games as a Bulldog … sixth-fastest to the milestone among all coaches in all MSU sports and second-fastest among women's teams.

Nadia Barbary – Tied the ballgame with a ground out in the sixth against Wichita State … later hit a three-run homer which provided what proved to be the winning run … extended her hitting streak to seven games dating back to last year … batting .346 (9-for-26) in that span with an .808 slugging percentage.

Abby Grace Richardson – Recorded her first outfield assist against Northwestern State.

Xiane Romero – Hit her first career home run against Northwestern State.

Morgan Stiles – Extended her hitting streak to seven games dating back to last year … hitting .636 (14-for-22) during the streak with a .773 slugging percentage.

Taylor Troutman – Finished 2-for-2 against Northwestern State with two homers and a walk … homered for her first career hit in first official at-bat after walking last night … also singled against Wichita State.

Scoring Recap vs. Northwestern State

Bottom 1
Morgan Stiles singled past the diving third baseman. With one out, Kiarra Sells walked. Paige Ernstes flew out to left, which allowed Stiles to take third. Kiarra Sells then stole second, and Stiles escaped a rundown between third and home. Both runners scored when Anna Carder's shallow pop tipped off the second baseman's glove in shallow right field. Carder raced to second as the ball bounced away and later scored on Abby Grace Richardson's double.
Northwestern State 0, No. 22 Mississippi State 3

Bottom 2
Taylor Troutman and Xiane Romero opened the inning with back-to-back home runs.
Northwestern State 0, No. 22 Mississippi State 5

Bottom 3
Taylor Troutman and Xiane Romero opened the inning with back-to-back home runs.
Northwestern State 0, No. 22 Mississippi State 8

Top 4
Britt Bourgoyne was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on Brynn Daniel's single to left. With two outs, pinch hitter DJ Lynch singled to left to score Bourgoyne. Daniel took third and Lynch moved to second on the throw. Mckenna Rinewalt re-entered to run at second. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, scoring Daniel. Pinch hitter Sophia Livers walked to put runners on the corners. She and Rinewalt executed a double steal with Rinewalt scoring from third.
Northwestern State 3, No. 22 Mississippi State 8

Bottom 4
Sells singled into center and advanced to second on Ernstes' ground out. Sells took third on a wild pitch before scoring on Carder's single up the middle.
Northwestern State 3, No. 22 Mississippi State 9

Scoring Recap vs. Wichita State

Bottom 4
With two outs, Gabby Scott walked and Kinzey Woody singled. Kammie Smith singled through the right side, scoring Scott while Woody was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
No. 22 Mississippi State 0, Wichita State 1

Top 6
Anna Carder delivered a pinch hit single to open the inning, and Ally Supan ran for her at first. Xiane Romero bunted Supan to second. Morgan Stiles singled to left to put runners on the corners before Gabby Schaeffer pinch ran at first. Nadia Barbary delivered an RBI ground out to score Supan from third.
No. 22 Mississippi State 1, Wichita State 1

Top 8
Tatum Silva was placed on second to begin the inning. Des Rivera laid down a sacrifice bunt to move her to third. Romero hit a grounder to the pitcher, but Silva dove in ahead of the throw home. Stiles singled off the pitcher's body, and Romero went to third on the ricochet. Barbary then hit a three-run homer.
No. 22 Mississippi State 5, Wichita State 1

Bottom 8
Mickayla Tosch was placed on second. Chloe Rhine singled up the middle, advancing Tosch to third. She scored on Jodie Epperson's infield single to shortstop.
No. 22 Mississippi State 5, Wichita State 2

Next Up

The Bulldogs conclude their opening weekend with a 9:30 a.m. CT first pitch against New Mexico on Saturday. The game from Getterman Stadium will air on ESPN+.

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