Sunday, March 1
Clemson, S.C.
11:30 a.m.
Mississippi State
18-2
9
at
1
#25 Clemson
13-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
R
H
E
Mississippi State
1
0
2
1
3
2
9
12
0
Clemson
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
3
1
No. 12 Bulldogs Win Tiger Invitational With Run-Rule Over No. 25 Clemson
March 01, 2026 | Softball
CLEMSON, S.C. – For the third time this weekend, No. 12 Mississippi State won in run-rule fashion on Sunday, defeating No. 25 Clemson, 9-1, in six innings to win the Tiger Invitational.
The Bulldogs improved to 18-2, their best 20-game start in school history, and State has followed up both of its losses by defeating the same team the next day.
"I really love the response from the team. I thought they took yesterday as a challenge, and the energy was completely different," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "The fight today, I just thought we played Mississippi State softball. We set the tone. We controlled the momentum on both sides of the ball, and it was just a really well-rounded game for us and a good answer back from yesterday's loss."
State scored in all but one inning, and score multiple runs in three frames. The Bulldogs took an early lead on a wild pitch in the first, and Kiarra Sells homered, her first of three hits on the day, in the third to make it 2-0. Abby Grace Richardson plated another run in the third, and Nadia Barbary picked up an RBI single in the fourth.
In the fifth, a pair of sacrifice flies scored two runners before Xiane Romero's RBI triple. Kinley Keller hit her first career home run in the sixth to put the game into run-rule territory.
In the circle, Peja Goold twirled five strikeouts while allowing just one run. Alyssa Faircloth closed the game with 1.2 hitless innings.
"This team is deep. We have a lot of talent. A lot of talent, you know, waiting their turn and continuing to work hard and be ready for their opportunities. I think of Tatum Silva coming in and being ready and sparking an inning for us. Abigail Stevens had a couple pinch hits this weekend and is just doing what she does best and finding barrels. I think it just speaks to this team's dynamic and how much they all are just excited for one another. There aren't any egos, and they just really want the best for the team and for one another. It just makes a special group."
Samantha Ricketts on Kiarra Sells' weekend at the Tiger Invitational…
"She is unreal. She has just gotten better and better every year. I think she's still continuing to get better. She's one of the best hitters in the country. You know, she's hard to fool. She's got power. She's got speed. She really does it all, and I think she's starting to put some people on notice with that."
Peja Goold – Earned her team-leading seventh win while allowing one run in 4.1 innings … has struck out five or more hitters in 32 appearances since the start of last year, going 28-2 in those games.
Kinley Keller – Hit her first career home run, driving in two.
Abby Grace Richardson – Drove in two runs with a single and a sacrifice fly.
Des Rivera – Has hit safely in seven straight games … collected two doubles today for her fifth multi-hit game of the year.
Xiane Romero – Hit her first career triple to drive in a run.
Kiarra Sells – Extended her season-long hitting streak to eight games … has an extra-base hit in seven of the last eight games with five doubles and three homers … batting .636 (14-for-22) during the streak … matched her career high with three hits including a home run … posted her team-leading eighth multi-hit game and now leads the team in total hits (27).
Morgan Stiles - Has reached base to open the MSU half of the first inning in 14 of 20 games and reached safely in all but one game this year.
The first eight pitches of the game were balls, allowing Morgan Stiles and Nadia Barbary to walk. Kiarra Sells singled to left to load the bases, and Stiles scored on a wild pitch.
No. 12 Mississippi State 1, No. 25 Clemson 0
Top 3
With one out, Sells hit a solo home run. With two outs, Des Rivera doubled, and Ally Supan pinch ran at second. Supan came home on Abby Grace Richardson's single up the middle.
No. 12 Mississippi State 3, No. 25 Clemson 0
Top 4
Tatum Silva led off with a single down the left field line. She advanced to second when a throw trying to double her off of first on a line drive sailed into the stands. Silva scored on Barbary's two-out single into center.
No. 12 Mississippi State 4, No. 25 Clemson 0
Top 5
Morgan Bernardini singled off the pitcher's body, and Kinley Keller came in to run for her. Rivera's second double of the day pushed Keller to third. Richardson hit a sacrifice fly to score Keller. Abigail Stevens pinch hit and singled into center, pushing Rivera to third. Gretta Grassel pinch ran at first and stole second base. Silva hit a sacrifice fly to score Rivera, and Xiane Romero tripled to score Grassel.
No. 12 Mississippi State 7, No. 25 Clemson 0
Bottom 5
Sarah Breaux walked, and Kennedy Ariail pinch ran at first. With one out, Kiley Channel singled to left. The runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch before Sam Minish walked to load the bases. With one out, Mac Pavese was hit by a pitch to score Ariail.
No. 12 Mississippi State 7, No. 25 Clemson 1
Top 6
With one out, Sells beat out an infield single before Kinley Keller hit a two-run homer to left.
No. 12 Mississippi State 9, No. 25 Clemson 1
First pitch in Birmingham is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT with the game airing on ESPN+.
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
The Bulldogs improved to 18-2, their best 20-game start in school history, and State has followed up both of its losses by defeating the same team the next day.
"I really love the response from the team. I thought they took yesterday as a challenge, and the energy was completely different," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "The fight today, I just thought we played Mississippi State softball. We set the tone. We controlled the momentum on both sides of the ball, and it was just a really well-rounded game for us and a good answer back from yesterday's loss."
State scored in all but one inning, and score multiple runs in three frames. The Bulldogs took an early lead on a wild pitch in the first, and Kiarra Sells homered, her first of three hits on the day, in the third to make it 2-0. Abby Grace Richardson plated another run in the third, and Nadia Barbary picked up an RBI single in the fourth.
In the fifth, a pair of sacrifice flies scored two runners before Xiane Romero's RBI triple. Kinley Keller hit her first career home run in the sixth to put the game into run-rule territory.
In the circle, Peja Goold twirled five strikeouts while allowing just one run. Alyssa Faircloth closed the game with 1.2 hitless innings.
Quotables
Samantha Ricketts on playing four different center fielders today…"This team is deep. We have a lot of talent. A lot of talent, you know, waiting their turn and continuing to work hard and be ready for their opportunities. I think of Tatum Silva coming in and being ready and sparking an inning for us. Abigail Stevens had a couple pinch hits this weekend and is just doing what she does best and finding barrels. I think it just speaks to this team's dynamic and how much they all are just excited for one another. There aren't any egos, and they just really want the best for the team and for one another. It just makes a special group."
Samantha Ricketts on Kiarra Sells' weekend at the Tiger Invitational…
"She is unreal. She has just gotten better and better every year. I think she's still continuing to get better. She's one of the best hitters in the country. You know, she's hard to fool. She's got power. She's got speed. She really does it all, and I think she's starting to put some people on notice with that."
Quick Hitters
Morgan Bernardini – Extended her hitting streak to a career-long eight games and her reached-base streak to 10 … batting 11-for-21 (.524) during the hitting streak … made a diving catch in foul ground in the fourth.Peja Goold – Earned her team-leading seventh win while allowing one run in 4.1 innings … has struck out five or more hitters in 32 appearances since the start of last year, going 28-2 in those games.
Kinley Keller – Hit her first career home run, driving in two.
Abby Grace Richardson – Drove in two runs with a single and a sacrifice fly.
Des Rivera – Has hit safely in seven straight games … collected two doubles today for her fifth multi-hit game of the year.
Xiane Romero – Hit her first career triple to drive in a run.
Kiarra Sells – Extended her season-long hitting streak to eight games … has an extra-base hit in seven of the last eight games with five doubles and three homers … batting .636 (14-for-22) during the streak … matched her career high with three hits including a home run … posted her team-leading eighth multi-hit game and now leads the team in total hits (27).
Morgan Stiles - Has reached base to open the MSU half of the first inning in 14 of 20 games and reached safely in all but one game this year.
Scoring Recap
Top 1The first eight pitches of the game were balls, allowing Morgan Stiles and Nadia Barbary to walk. Kiarra Sells singled to left to load the bases, and Stiles scored on a wild pitch.
No. 12 Mississippi State 1, No. 25 Clemson 0
Top 3
With one out, Sells hit a solo home run. With two outs, Des Rivera doubled, and Ally Supan pinch ran at second. Supan came home on Abby Grace Richardson's single up the middle.
No. 12 Mississippi State 3, No. 25 Clemson 0
Top 4
Tatum Silva led off with a single down the left field line. She advanced to second when a throw trying to double her off of first on a line drive sailed into the stands. Silva scored on Barbary's two-out single into center.
No. 12 Mississippi State 4, No. 25 Clemson 0
Top 5
Morgan Bernardini singled off the pitcher's body, and Kinley Keller came in to run for her. Rivera's second double of the day pushed Keller to third. Richardson hit a sacrifice fly to score Keller. Abigail Stevens pinch hit and singled into center, pushing Rivera to third. Gretta Grassel pinch ran at first and stole second base. Silva hit a sacrifice fly to score Rivera, and Xiane Romero tripled to score Grassel.
No. 12 Mississippi State 7, No. 25 Clemson 0
Bottom 5
Sarah Breaux walked, and Kennedy Ariail pinch ran at first. With one out, Kiley Channel singled to left. The runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch before Sam Minish walked to load the bases. With one out, Mac Pavese was hit by a pitch to score Ariail.
No. 12 Mississippi State 7, No. 25 Clemson 1
Top 6
With one out, Sells beat out an infield single before Kinley Keller hit a two-run homer to left.
No. 12 Mississippi State 9, No. 25 Clemson 1
Next Up
The Bulldogs remain on the road next week with trips to Birmingham, Alabama, and Mobile, Alabama. State will play at UAB on Wednesday before traveling to South Alabama for the Jaguar Invitational on March 6-8.First pitch in Birmingham is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT with the game airing 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: Goold, Peja (7-1)
L: Lexie Hames (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Rivera, Des 2
3B: Romero, Xiane 1
HR: Sells, Kiarra 1 ; Keller, Kinley 1
RBI: Barbary, Nadia 1 ; Sells, Kiarra 1 ; Keller, Kinley 2 ; Richardson, Abby Grace 2 ; Silva, Tatum 1 ; Romero, Xiane 1
SF: Richardson, Abby Grace 1 ; Silva, Tatum 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Stiles, Morgan 1 ; Sells, Kiarra 2 ; Keller, Kinley 2 ; Rivera, Des 1 ; Supan, Ally 1 ; Grassel, Gretta 1 ; Silva, Tatum 1
SB: Richardson, Abby Grace 1 ; Grassel, Gretta 1
Batting:
2B: Sarah Breaux 1 ; Kiley Channell 1
RBI: Mac Pavese 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kennedy Ariail 1
HBP: Mac Pavese 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
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2
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3
RBI
1
AB
3
R
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H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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UTL
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