Mississippi State head coach Samantha Ricketts strolled on to Devon Field in Oklahoma City on Wednesday sporting sunglasses and a smile.
She trailed behind a pack of players taking videos and photos of the field, watching her squad become the first in Mississippi State history to walk on softball’s biggest stage. Ricketts, who came to Starkville 12 years ago as an assistant before taking over as head coach in 2019, seemed to be soaking it all in.
But her smile soon began to fade as the Bulldogs walked down the third-base line and into the dugout on the first-base side. It was time to get serious.
Ricketts huddled her team, and along with associate head coach Tyler Bratton, broke down the gameplan for State’s Thursday game against Texas Tech; the Red Raiders’ base-stealing strategies, their bunting tendencies, everything MSU needed to know to keep the upset train rolling. Ricketts, whose smile shone in dreary Oklahoma City weather just a minute prior, presented the plan straightfaced and in seconds without missing a beat.
She broke the huddle and found a spot along the third-base line, staying glued to one square foot of turf throughout half of practice. A few comments and wisecracks kept the practice light, but Ricketts’ demeanor was that of a sergeant, watching over her army as they drilled flyballs and double plays.
After fielding drills, the coaching staff paused the practice to split up a unified group into two squads for base-stealing practice. One team managed the steal attempts and pickle plays on defense, while the other tried its best to avoid a tag from their teammates. The stand-in batter to help simulate in-game action for State’s pitching staff? Ricketts.
A lefty in the box, she mostly kept the bat on her shoulder to let her catchers attempt to get the runner out. A few times, however, Ricketts’ history as an elite hitter took over. She tallied a few sacrifice bunts in the scrimmage. On a high pitch later in the drill, Ricketts reached up in the zone and hit a chopper up the middle, driving in a runner, earning an RBI 17 years after her playing career ended.
“That’s an All-American hitter,” Bratton said after Ricketts fouled off a tough pitch low in the zone.
Correction, Coach Bratton, that’s a two-time All-American hitter.
Ricketts was one of the country’s top-hitters in the late 2000s at Oklahoma. Along with her two All-American selections, Ricketts earned four All-Big 12 First-Team selections.
Her sophomore year, 2007, Ricketts was a second team All-American, and was a top-3 finalist for the USA Softball Player of the Year Award. In that regular season, Ricketts led Division I in RBIs.
Ricketts was the only freshman to earn All-Big 12 honors a year before. She entered her junior year on the watchlist for USA Softball player of the year, and ended the season with 13 home runs and 51 RBIs.
Ricketts was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American team in her senior season in 2009.
Her success as a Sooner is still regarded by the most important people involved in the Oklahoma softball dynasty. Her former coach, Patty Gasso, called Ricketts one of her “all-time favorites” after Ricketts upset Oklahoma in the Norman Super Regional.
Despite her accolades and success as a player with Oklahoma, Ricketts left Norman without one major accomplishment – an appearance in the Women’s College World Series.
It’s a failure that most who’ve kept even a blink of an eye on college softball over the last two decades would find unimaginable. The Sooners, who’ve made 18 WCWS since 2000, including a run from 2011-2025 where Oklahoma only missed the series once, failed to reach the pinnacle of the sport from 2006-2009.
Ricketts came close twice, losing in the super regionals in back-to-back years in 2007 and 2008. The other two seasons, the Sooners failed to make it out of the regional round.
After an illustrious playing career, her first time in the batter’s box at the WCWS came Wednesday.
The Ricketts’ history in the WCWS
Despite never playing in the event, Ricketts is no stranger to the WCWS.
She got a small taste of the WCWS as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma in 2011. That Sooners appearance ended in quick fashion, going 0-2 with losses to Arizona State and Missouri. Her sister, Keilani, played for that Sooner team. Keilani played in the following two WCWS, winning it all in 2013.
Her other sister, Stephanie, was part of a 2010 Hawaii team that upset its way, much like this year’s MSU, to an appearance in the WCWS. Ricketts was in the stands to cheer on the Rainbow Warriors.
Ricketts was the only one of her sisters to never play in the WCWS, a fact shared with the world by none other than the family matriarch, Carol Ricketts.
“I always felt a little sad Sam was my one daughter who didn’t make it to the WCWS as a player,” Carol Ricketts said in a Sunday X post. “But to see her make it as a coach makes me so proud beyond words.”
Ricketts laughed off the post, which marked her mother’s return to the app after a four-year hiatus.
“It’s obviously really special,” Ricketts said on finally having her time to shine at the WCWS. “I’ve spent a lot of years here and obviously, playing at OU, we played a lot of games in the stadium.”
Ricketts said Keilani won’t be able to make it, as she’s continued her playing career into the professional ranks and is busy preparing for the upcoming Athletes Unlimited Softball season as a left handed pitcher with the Blaze. Ricketts said her brother, Rick, will be in attendance with his children.
Ricketts’ impact on MSU Softball
Ricketts earned State its first ever trip to the super regional in 2022, upsetting Florida State in the Tallahassee regional. This year, Ricketts earned State its first ever super-regional win and WCWS appearance.
“When taking over as head coach, about seven years ago, it (reaching the WCWS) was the absolute goal, and something that we knew we could achieve at Mississippi State when a lot of people told us it was not possible,” Ricketts said. “(I’m) just very thankful for this team, as well as the alumni and the players who chose Mississippi State before them, that all led up to this moment.”
Senior Nadia Barbary, who has spent all of her college career under Ricketts, had high praise of her head coach on Wednesday.
“My relationship with Ricketts started a long, long time ago,” Barbary said. “Our relationship before me getting here really just enhanced my experience when I got here… Playing style wise, we just have fun.”
Sophomore Morgan Stiles shared the same sentiment.
“I don’t think that you can find a better person to be your coach in softball,” Stiles said, Ricketts smiling on the other side of the table. “In the times when you feel like you cannot do anything right, and everything is just going wrong, and you have no confidence in yourself, she has confidence for you, and she will always be there for you.”
Jake is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for The Dispatch.
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