No. 12 Bulldogs Drop Rubber Match To No. 1 Tennessee

Sunday, March 15

Starkville

12 p.m.

Mississippi State

27-4, 1-2

#1 Tennessee

27-1, 5-1

Tennessee

Mississippi State

No. 12 Bulldogs Drop Rubber Match To No. 1 Tennessee

March 15, 2026 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes Press Conference

By: Brian Ogden, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – No. 12 Mississippi State answered back once, but could not respond a second time, falling 4-1 to No. 1 Tennessee in Sunday's series finale.

The Lady Vols (27-1, 5-1 SEC) opened the scoring in the third on a wild pitch, but the Bulldogs (27-4, 1-2 SEC) immediately answered with a solo home run from Gabby Schaeffer in the bottom of the inning. Tennessee homered in the fourth and drove in two with a bases-loaded single in the seventh to result in the final score.

"When you see elite pitching staffs like that, you've got to do a better job of swinging within your game plan," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I think we definitely got exposed to that this weekend. That's not the offense that we expect from ourselves, not even just the results but the approach. I think the biggest message today is that when we get all three phases working, we can compete with anyone. We competed in all three games because we had great pitching and defense, but finding our bats is the difference in taking the series or not. Right now, it's about just continuing to respond and learn the lessons that we need to early in the SEC season. We want to be peaking at the right time, and if we use these lessons and get after it the right way at practice, it can be good motivation for us and a good learning point for this team."

Schaeffer had State's only hit in the game. She also walked to reach in every plate appearance. Abby Grace Richardson drew two walks. Morgan Stiles also drew a walk.

Leila Ammon got the start in the circle, going 3.0 innings and striking out four. Peja Goold threw 3.0 innings, and Alyssa Faircloth struck out two after entering in relief in the seventh.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on takeaways from this series moving forward in SEC play...
"That's the question. That's something for the team to decide how we respond here. I really don't have any doubts that they will. I think this group has really loved the challenge all year long. They've wanted things to be hard. They wanted to be pushed more. They understand that our SEC schedule is not for the weak. Being able to start with No. 1, I think it was a good measuring stick for us to see where we are at and where we need to improve. I love the way we competed. The crowds and the atmosphere were phenomenal, and I think it provides a home field advantage. It's special to see the crowd show up after being here for so long and to see how far we've grown. The support for women's sports and softball means a lot. Using those pieces like that – when we can find those little wins – and we understand what that can do for the program to continue to push us forward. It's just really impactful, and we want to continue. We're not satisfied. We want to compete. We want to win, beat the No. 1 team in the country, that's the expectation. I think we've got the players in the room who all believe that too. We're going to continue, get back to work, keep fighting and try to make sure we can make these adjustments quickly because we're right back at it with another ranked team next weekend."

Gabby Schaeffer on her approach at the plate...
"I was going up to the plate, and I kept telling myself, 'This pitcher is not better than me.' She might be No.1 in the nation, but she's not beating me. And I think we talked about beforehand going out there and having confidence and looking for a certain pitch, especially with her. I did that. I saw it, and I swung. And I put my best swing on it. You don't have to swing hard when a pitcher is throwing at least 70 miles per hour. It's just going to fly off the bat."

Quick Hitters

Pack the Park – This weekend's total attendance of 4,818 is a program record for a three-day series … the previous record was 4,086 set last year against Ole Miss … prior to that mark it was 4,042 set in 2024 against Tennessee … 1,292 fans were in attendance on Sunday, State's third-highest single-game mark this year.

Stingy Staffs – 18 of the 23 innings in the series were scoreless …the teams averaged just 6.0 hits combined in each game … seven of 10 runs scored in the series were scored by a home run.

Leila Ammon – Started and went 3.0 innings with four strikeouts … struck out the side in the second.

Abby Grace Richardson – Walked twice and stole a base.

Gabby Schaeffer – Hit a solo home run … also walked to reach in both plate appearances.

Scoring Recap

Top 3
Taelyn Holley doubled down the left field line to lead off. Bella Faw bunted her to third with the first out. With two outs, Holley scored on a wild pitch.
No. 1 Tennessee 1, No. 12 Mississippi State 0

Bottom 3
Gabby Schaeffer homered to right-center field with one out.
No. 1 Tennessee 1, No. 12 Mississippi State 1

Top 4
With one out, Emma Clarke hit a solo home run to left field.
No. 1 Tennessee 2, No. 12 Mississippi State 1

Top 7
Elsa Morrison led off with a walk, which was followed by a base hit from Alannah Leach. Following a pitching change, Holley walked to load the bases. With two out, Ella Dodge singled to center, scoring Morrison and Leach while moving Holley to second.
No. 1 Tennessee 4, No. 12 Mississippi State 1

Next Up

The Bulldogs remain at home for a Wednesday night midweek matchup against UAB. The game will be televised nationally on SEC Network beginning at 7 p.m. CT.

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