Sells Slugs No. 12 Mississippi State To Sunday Victory

Sunday, March 8

Mobile, Ala.

12:30 p.m.

Mississippi State

24-2

South Alabama

16-10

Mississippi State

South Alabama

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

Sells Slugs No. 12 Mississippi State To Sunday Victory

March 08, 2026 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes

By: Brian Ogden, Director/Communications

MOBILE, Ala. – No. 12 Mississippi State hit three home runs to provide all of its scoring in a 4-2 comeback victory at South Alabama on Sunday, and Kiarra Sells hit two of them.

Nadia Barbary got the offense started in the third with a solo home run, and Sells immediately followed with a solo shot of her own. Later in the fifth, Barbary was hit by a pitch before Sells hit a two-run blast.

"Ki is just a professional hitter," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "She doesn't get sped up. She's able to hit all the different pitches that they're throwing at her and hit them hard. She just comes up clutch time and time again with some big RBIs and big swings for us when we need them."

The Bulldogs (24-2) fell behind in the first two frames as South Alabama (16-10) pushed a single run across in both innings. Peja Goold got the start and threw 4.0 innings with four strikeouts before handing the ball over to Leila Ammon. Ammon allowed one hit in 1.0 inning of work before Alyssa Faircloth came on to earn her third save of the year with 2.0 one-hit innings.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on her pitching staff usage today…
"Pitching depth, it's important. Especially nowadays, and moving forward into a conference play, we're going to need them all. They're just trusting one another to do their job and the role that they're given that day. And I think we do have a lot of depth. They all provide different looks, and it's able to keep opposing teams off balance. We can mix and match them as we need them to get us out of some jams, and to close out that game. I just loved the composure and the poise of all of them when they came in for their innings."

Samantha Ricketts on Tatum Silva's two-hit day…
"Tatum's a gamer. She stays ready. She's ready for opportunity. She finds ways to get on base. She's scrappy, and she just plays hard. She competes hard, and I just love her attitude and her energy and her fire when she gets out there."

Quick Hitters

Loving The Long Ball – Nadia Barbary and Kiarra Sells hit back-to-back home runs for the fourth time in their careers together … State scored all of its runs via the home run on Sunday … for the season, MSU has scored 40.1 percent (69 of 172) of its runs via home runs.

Nadia Barbary – Hit her seventh home run of the year … ranks second on the team in home runs … has a hit in four consecutive games and has reached safely in seven straight.

Morgan Bernardini – Has a hit in four straight games … went 2-for-2 today with a walk … stands as her fourth multi-hit game of the year.

Kiarra Sells – Hit her team-leading ninth and 10th home runs of the season … has at least one an extra-base hit in 12 of the last 14 games … has eight doubles and six homers in that span … leads the team with 11 multi-hit and eight multi-RBI games.

Tatum Silva – Walked twice and stole a base.

Scoring Recap

Bottom 1
With one out, Presley Lively singled through the right side. She advanced to second when Gracie Dees grounded out to first and scored on Virginia Mambelli's single through the left side.
No. 12 Mississippi State 0, South Alabama 1

Bottom 2
Edy Gavin led off with a single to left. With one out, she stole second. With two outs, Lillie Stagner pinch hit and singled to center to score Gavin.
No. 12 Mississippi State 0, South Alabama 2

Top 3
With one out, Nadia Barbary and Kiarra Sells hit back-to-back home runs.
No. 12 Mississippi State 2, South Alabama 2

Top 5
Barbary was hit by a pitch to open the inning before Sells hit her second home run.
No. 12 Mississippi State 4, South Alabama 2

Next Up

The Bulldogs return home host Southeast Missouri for a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 10 with first pitches scheduled for 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. CT. MSU then welcomes No. 1 Tennessee for its SEC opener on Friday, March 13.

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