Third Straight Top-15 Series Awaits No. 14 Bulldogs In College Station

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – For the third weekend in a row, No. 14 Mississippi State will meet a top-15 opponent as the Bulldogs travel to No. 12 Texas A&M on April 17-19.

MSU has already played three top-10 series this year, and all six SEC opponents so far have been ranked at the time of their meeting.

It's a rare trip to Davis Diamond for the Bulldogs who have played just three conference series in Bryan-College Station in program history. The Bulldogs have three road wins against the Aggies since they joined the conference with one of those coming in the 2019 SEC Tournament that was hosted by Texas A&M.

There have been seven prior meetings when both teams were ranked, but none of them have seen both programs inside the top 15.

The weekend's schedule has been altered with inclement weather in the forecast. The Bulldogs will now open the series on Friday night at 6 p.m. CT instead of 7:30 p.m., and that game has been moved to SEC Network+. Saturday's game has been moved up to an 11 a.m. first pitch instead of a 4 p.m. start.

Game Coverage

Friday, April 17

6 p.m. – Texas A&M | Watch on SEC Network+ | Live Stats

Saturday, April 18

11 a.m. – Texas A&M | Watch on SEC Network+ | Live Stats

Sunday, April 19

1 p.m. – Texas A&M | Watch on SEC Network+ | Live Stats

Leading Off

Time Spent In Texas: Only two Bulldogs have any career at-bats against the Aggies. Nadia Barbary is 5-for-19 (.263) in her career against Texas A&M with a home run at Davis Diamond in 2023 and a double in 2024. Tatum Silva played in College Station on Opening Day last year, going 1-for-3 with a run scored.

Delayed Delainey: Veteran arm Delainey Everett missed the first 16 games of the year with injury but has returned to total 5.0 scoreless innings this year. She tossed 1.1 innings in two appearances last weekend, recording her first strikeout of the year. Everett won 10 games last season.
Tale Of Two Seasons: Nadia Barbary boasted 30 extra-base hits with eight homers in her first two seasons combined. In the last two seasons, Barbary has posted back-to-back double-digit homer seasons with 44 extra-base hits. She enters the weekend among the MSU career top-10 in both doubles (43, T-7th) and homers (30, T-8th).

Fill 'Er Up: Mississippi State has dominated the strike zone, leading the nation with 390 strikeouts, which is sixth-most in program history. The Bulldogs have 307 more strikeouts than walks, while only 10 teams in the country have 300 total strikeouts this year.

Win The Late Innings: In Mississippi State's SEC games this year, 61 of 93 runs (65.6 percent) between both teams have been scored in the fifth inning or later with only 16 total runs combined in the first two frames.

Down On Strikes: Alyssa Faircloth became the fastest MSU pitcher to record 100 strikeouts in a season, needing just 55.2 innings to do so. She now boasts 183, which ranks sixth nationally, and is just 17 away from the sixth 200-strikeout in school history.

Protecting The Plate: The Bulldogs have thrown out 11 runners at the plate this year, including seven when leading by one run, tied or trailing.

Defensive Dawgs: State boasts a .983 fielding percentage, which ranks fifth in the nation. The school record is .977 set in 2009 with just 34 total errors. That's the fewest errors in a season except for the shortened 2020 season when State made just 24. MSU has only 20 this season.

Sacrificial State: Des Rivera has tied the MSU single-season record with five sacrifice flies, which is sixth nationally. As a team, the Bulldogs boast 20, which ranks is just one shy from the school record.

About Texas A&M (31-12, 11-4 SEC)

Series History

Notables

Texas A&M ranks 11th nationally in batting average and is top 20 in slugging percentage, on-base percentage, RBIs and scoring offense. Their offense has been helped by the fact that they have drawn 199 walks, which ranks ninth nationally. The Aggie pitchers rank eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio. Ariel Kowalewski leads the SEC with 15 doubles, and Mya Perez leads the conference in on-base percentage (.621) and is third nationally. Kennedy Powell has started every game at third base. She boasts 200 career hits and 50 career stolen bases, making her one of 13 active players nationally to reach those marks.

On Deck

The Bulldogs will play their final home series on April 24-26 as part of MSU's annual Super Bulldog Weekend. State will host No. 22/17 LSU with a pregame graduation ceremony on Friday and Senior Day festivities on Saturday. Sunday's game will be the team's annual Samoan Heritage Day.

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Third Straight Top-15 Series Awaits No. 14 Bulldogs In College Station

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Players Mentioned

Nadia Barbary

Delainey Everett

Alyssa Faircloth

Des Rivera

Tatum Silva

Mississippi State University Athletics

Third Straight Top-15 Series Awaits No. 14 Bulldogs In College Station

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nadia Barbary

Delainey Everett

Alyssa Faircloth

Des Rivera

Tatum Silva

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