The Mississippi State softball team was poised to make a splash in the Southeastern Conference this spring.
At 25-3 through March 11, the Bulldogs — led by first-year head coach Samantha Ricketts — had the best record of any softball team in school history and the best record in the SEC at the time. Ricketts’ team had won 14 straight games.
But the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly shut down MSU’s season just a day before the Dawgs were scheduled to open their SEC slate against Kentucky at Nusz Park. Consequently, MSU missed out on a chance to prove its early returns were for real.
Thanks to the NCAA’s decision to award spring-sport athletes an extra year of eligibility, the Bulldogs — who finished 20th in the final national NFCA/USA TODAY poll on April 7 — will be bringing back the heart of their team in 2021.
However, so will everybody else in perhaps the best softball conference in the country.
Here’s a look at what the Bulldogs can expect from their fellow SEC schools this coming spring. Each team will be listed with its 2020 record and its final ranking in the April 7 poll.
LSU (21-3, 0-0 SEC)
Final ranking: No. 5
Only the Tigers were a better pitching team than Mississippi State was this spring. LSU posted a minuscule ERA of 0.95 in its 24 games, and its pitchers gave up a mere 80 hits all season. The Tigers’ main four hurlers — Shelby Wickersham, Ali Kilponen, Maribeth Gorsuch and Shelbi Sunseri — all pitched 35 or more innings with ERAs of 1.20 or lower. All four will return in 2021. While LSU’s team batting average of .344 was second in the SEC in 2020 — jumps out, the Bayou Bengals hit the fourth-fewest home runs in the league. Still, the Tigers scored the third-most runs per game in the SEC, and top hitters Georgia Clark, Taylor Tidwell and Morgan Cummins will return. LSU won’t be losing much in either facet of the game.
Florida (23-4, 3-0 SEC)
Final ranking: No. 7
Ten of the SEC’s 13 softball teams squeezed in a conference series before the pandemic shut down their season. Of them, Florida was just one of two to sweep its opening three games, beating Auburn in three straight contests. The Gators finished behind just LSU and MSU in team ERA at 1.89 thanks to a workhorse performance by Natalie Lugo, who finished the year with a whopping 81.1 innings. The senior from West Covina, California, will be back in 2021. Florida sat in the middle of the pack offensively with 5.70 runs per game, good for seventh in the league. The Gators were the SEC’s best defensive team with just 12 errors and a .985 fielding percentage.
Alabama (14-8, 2-1 SEC)
Final ranking: No. 10
The Crimson Tide didn’t rack up the wins like Mississippi State did in nonconference play, but it’s fair to say that was because of a much more difficult schedule. Alabama lost twice to No. 12 Florida State, actually run-ruled No. 2 Washington and lost to No. 1 UCLA. The Tide played No. 13 Oklahoma State, faced No. 4 Arizona twice and had a game against No. 3 Texas scheduled for March 13, just one day after the season was shut down. Still, Alabama finished fifth in runs per game with 6.32 and ended up seventh — smack in the middle — with a 2.74 team ERA. The Tide return outfielder KB Sides (.483 average) and pitchers Lexi Kilfoyl, Montana Fouts and Krystal Goodman in 2021.
Kentucky (20-4, 2-1 SEC)
Final ranking: No. 11
On March 11, what would prove to be their final game, the Wildcats scored 12 unanswered runs, including six in their last at-bat, to come back and beat Marshall 16-15. It was the last look at a dynamic Kentucky offense that averaged more than nine runs per game, the best mark in the SEC by almost a run and a half. Two players, Bailey Vick and Alex Martens, hit over .500; they won’t be back, but a third Wildcat, Mallory Peyton, posted a 1.487 on-base plus slugging percentage with a team-leading 11 home runs. The Wildcats’ pitching ranked ninth in the conference with a 2.97 ERA, and pitchers Meghan Schorman, Autumn Humes and Grace Baalman all return.
South Carolina (17-6, 1-2 SEC)
Final ranking: No. 15
With the eighth-best scoring average and sixth-best ERA, the Gamecocks were solidly in the middle of the pack in the SEC in 2020. Which, for the level of competition, is plenty good enough. A considerable amount of returning talent will help, too. Pitchers Kelsey Oh and Karsen Ochs, who combined for 72.1 innings this spring, will be back, while Karly Heath transferred to Louisiana. South Carolina’s top seven hitters by batting average will all return to Columbia.
Arkansas (19-6, 1-2 SEC)
Final ranking: No. 19
Though the Razorbacks were fifth-best in ERA in 2020, they fell just behind Georgia (1.92) and Florida (1.89) with a 1.93 mark. Pitching helped Arkansas to a solid start to 2020, though the Razorbacks suffered a pair of one-run losses to the two schools they faced in nonconference play, Baylor and Florida State. Outfielder Hannah McEwen, who hit .417 this spring, will pace the Hogs’ offense.
Missouri (19-7, 3-0 SEC)
Final ranking: No. 25
Missouri found a way to win in nonconference play despite a tough schedule and low marks in both batting average and ERA. The Tigers hit .288, good for 11th in the league, and pitched to a 3.12 ERA, good for 12th. Still, Mizzou beat top-25 teams Minnesota and Oklahoma State in extra innings while losing to three ranked schools: the Golden Gophers, James Madison and Arizona.
Georgia (23-5, 2-1 SEC)
Final ranking: Not Ranked
Right down to their shared nickname, Georgia and Mississippi State had several similarities in 2020. The red and black Bulldogs managed to schedule five games against ranked teams in nonconference play, going 3-2 with a victory over Northwestern pair of wins over James Madison. Additionally, UGA was at or near the top of the conference in multiple areas — third in batting average, second in stolen bases, fourth in ERA and first in strikeout to walk ratio. Georgia scored the second-most runs per game in the league. Sydney Kuma and Lacey Fincher, who hit over .400, are returning, but Ciara Bryan (1.336 OPS), like South Carolina’s Heath, is transferring to Louisiana.
Texas A&M (17-9, 2-2 SEC)
Final ranking: NR
Back-to-back-to-back games against top six teams — Arizona, Oklahoma and UCLA — put a put a bit of a damper on the Aggies’ record in 2020. While Texas A&M was essentially mediocre relative to the SEC, this is a solid team that was hampered by its tough nonconference schedule. Makinzy Herzog, who hit .415, slugged over .800 and even pitched to a 0.82 ERA in 25.2 innings, will be a two-way star again.
Tennessee (14-9, 0-0 SEC)
Final ranking: NR
With a league-high 3.19 ERA, the Volunteers were the only SEC team to allow more than 100 runs in 2020 despite tying for the second-fewest games. Bringing back pitchers Callie Turner and Samantha Bender should at least help the Vols stabilize in 2021. However, Tennessee’s offense also averaged the third-fewest runs in the conference. The fifth-ranked recruiting class per Extra Inning Softball should help.
Auburn (16-11, 0-3 SEC)
Final ranking: NR
While Tennessee can boast a strong freshman class, the Tigers have them — and everyone — beat. Auburn brings the No. 1 group of recruits in the country, including ace pitcher Maddie Penta, into the 2021 season. At .266, the Tigers had the second-lowest batting average in the SEC and beat out only Ole Miss in runs per game.
Ole Miss (12-13, 0-3 SEC)
Final ranking: NR
Mississippi State’s in-state rival was dead last in the SEC in the following categories in 2020: batting average, runs per game, hits, stolen base success percentage and, of course, victories.
Ole Miss was the only team in the conference to post a losing record this spring, thanks to their sweep at the hands of Missouri. The Rebels hope for a turnaround in their second season under former Minnesota coach Jamie Trachsel.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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