Faircloth Leads The Way As No. 12 State Downs South Alabama

Friday, March 6

Mobile, Ala.

3 p.m.

Mississippi State

21-2

South Alabama

14-8

Mississippi State

South Alabama

Faircloth Leads The Way As No. 12 State Downs South Alabama

March 06, 2026 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes

By: Brian Ogden, Director/Communications

MOBILE, Ala. – Alyssa Faircloth kept the strong pitching performances rolling for No. 12 Mississippi State on Friday as the Bulldogs defeated South Alabama, 3-1.

Peja Goold had tossed a five-hit shutout earlier in the day against New Mexico. Faircloth, who entered the year with just one double-digit strikeout performance in her career, twirled her fourth of the season, fanning 14 hitters to match her career high.

"They did exactly what they're supposed to do, both strong quality starts, and I thought they got better any time runners gone on," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "They're calm. They're confident. They were mixing their pitches and attacking the zone, and they came right back after any runs or hits. That's what you expect from mature pitchers like both of them. It was just two quality starts that kept us in the game to get them some runs."

The Bulldogs (21-2) opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the first. Kiarra Sells doubled in one run before Des Rivera scored a second with a sacrifice fly. The Jaguars (14-8) scored with a leadoff homer in the second, which stood as their only hit until there were two outs in the sixth.

"I thought it was a good response from the offense of finding ways to have team at bats," Ricketts added. "With the sac fly, a two-out RBI from Mo B, we were just doing the little things right that we felt we could have done a better job of in the first game."

Morgan Bernardini drove in an insurance run in the third inning with a single through the left side. Kinley Keller, Morgan Stiles and Sells all had multi-hit games.

Quotables

Alyssa Faircloth on Peja Goold's performance in the first game of the day…
"I think she was really gritty. I think she found a way, no matter what, and I think she just went right at them. Any time somebody got on, she shut it right back down and had our hitters' backs. Sometimes we have their backs, and sometimes they have our backs. I think today, she did a really great job of just going straight at them and coming right back after a baserunner got on. She inspires me, honestly. Like, I think she is so technical and thinks through everything. She prepares a lot, and when she's out there, you know she's giving her all. I feel like she inspires me to do the same thing, and seeing her do that makes me want to do it for her, too."

Peja Goold on Alyssa Faircloth's performance against South Alabama…
"We both figured it out today because I don't think either of us were really feeling it. It was cool to see her be able to complete the game after coming out at the end of the first and saying maybe she didn't have her best stuff. I think the best pitchers are able to play and still win games with their B- and C-game, so it was awesome to see her complete that game."

Samantha Ricketts on Kiarra Sells' hitting streak…
"When she's at her best, she's not thinking and she's hitting everything. She's just such a tough out. There's really not much a team can do to her. It's been really enjoyable to see her growth and to see what type of hitter she's become. She's the one everyone's worried about, and how do you pitch around Ki? When Mo [Stiles] and Nadia [Barbary] are able to get on in front of her, it puts a lot of pressure on the team from the start like we saw in the first inning today. That is always the goal, but she's been having a great year. I love the confidence and love the way she's swinging."

Quick Hitters

Morgan Bernardini – Drove in a run and ranks third on the team with 17 RBIs.

Alyssa Faircloth – Posted her fourth double-digit strikeout performance of the year after entering this season with just one in her career … retired 13 Jaguars on strikes, one shy of her career high … turned in her fourth complete game of the season … allowed just three hits.

Kinley Keller – Turned in a 2-for-3 day at the plate for her third multi-hit game of the year.

Des Rivera – Plated a run with her team-leading third sacrifice fly of 2026.

Kiarra Sells – Extended her hitting streak to a career-long-tying 11 games … has an extra-base hit in 10 of the last 11 games with eight doubles and three homers … batting .613 (19-for-31) during the streak … leads the team with 10 multi-hit games.

Morgan Stiles – Posted her eighth multi-hit effort of the year, which ranks second on the team … has reached base to open the MSU half of the first inning in 16 of 23 games … has been on base in all but one game this year.

Scoring Recap

Top 1
Morgan Stiles and Nadia Barbary opened the game with back-to-back singles. Kiarra Sells doubled to left-center field, scoring Stiles. Des Rivera hit a sacrifice fly to score Barbary.
No. 12 Mississippi State 2, South Alabama 0

Bottom 2
Virginia Mambelli hit a leadoff home run to right field.
No. 12 Mississippi State 2, South Alabama 1

Top 3
Kinley Keller and Stiles both singled up the middle to open the inning. With two outs, Morgan Bernardini singled through the left side, scoring Keller from second.
No. 12 Mississippi State 3, South Alabama 1

Next Up

Mississippi State continues play at the Jaguar Classic on Saturday. The Bulldogs face New Mexico for the third time this season at 10 a.m. CT tomorrow with their second game of the year against Samford to follow at 12:30 p.m.

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