Bulldog Quartet Prepares For International Debuts At Canada Cup
July 02, 2026 | Softball
OKLAHOMA CITYย โโฏFourย different Bulldogs will be in action in the international division of the Canada Cup next week. Head coach Samanthaย Ricketts will make her debut as the head coach of the American Samoa Women's National Team, and she is joined on that squad by State alumni Matalasi Faapito and Kiarra Sells.ย ย
Additionally, Alyssa Faircloth will play with Team TC Colorado, a travel organization squad made up of elite active collegiate players.ย
Team American Samoa enters the Canada Cup with a No. 42 world ranking. The nation last played last Julyย at the Pacific Mini Games in Palauย where it won gold. The team isย seeking to qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and the path to that qualification includes playing in WBSC-sanctioned tournaments like the Canada Cup over the next two years.ย
Ricketts' connection to the island of American Samoa and its familialย culture has brought seven players with Samoan ties to Mississippi since 2016, including 2027 rising juniorย Kalani Sells, the younger sister of Kiarra, and incomingย freshmanย Taylor Faga.ย
Faapitoย spent three seasons in Starkville,ย playing inย 137 games as a Bulldog. She totaled 19 home runs and 59 RBIs in her career. She was especially potent in the postseason, posting a .737 slugging percentage in the NCAA Tournament for her career, which ranked third in MSU history when she graduated, and posted a .750 career on-base percentage in the postseason. The two-way player also made 51 appearances in the circle for State, posting a career 2.70 ERA.ย She registered four saves out of the bullpen and recorded 132 career strikeouts.ย
Sells earned Second Team All-South Region honors from the NFCA this spring afterย starting all but two games inย rightย field. She led MSUย inย battingย average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs, doubles, homers, walks, hit-by-pitchesย and stolen bases in her senior year. She closed her career ranked sixth in State history with a .614 career slugging percentage and 1.068 OPS. She launched 25 total homers in her final two years alone.ย
Faircloth was a Second Team All-American by D1Softball this year after a dominant campaign that saw her named the SEC Newcomer of the Year while setting school records for single-season strikeouts (268), strikeouts looking (70) and strikeouts per seven innings (10.56). She ranked fourth nationally in total strikeouts and was among the top 20 in fielding-independent pitching, strikeout-to-walkย ratioย and WHIP.ย
Fifteen teams will play in the international division in British Columbia from July 5-12. Poolย playย runs from July 5-10 before teams enter bracket play.ย All ofย the Bulldogs involved are in the White Pool along with Chinese Taipei, Israel, Peru, Singapore, Canadaย Eliteย and the Saskatchewanย 222s. The final day of pool play will see Faircloth go head-to-head with Ricketts,ย Faapitoย and Sells at 8:30 a.m. CT.ย
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow onโฏX (formerly Twitter),โฏFacebookโฏandโฏInstagramโฏby searching "HailStateSB."ย
