STARKVILLE — As Annie Willis wound and fired, Celeste Soliz bounced up and down on the balls of her feet in the dugout, slapping her hands against the black rail.
All around her, Soliz’s Mississippi State teammates were hardly moving, lulled into inertia by the near-freezing temperatures, stunned into silence by a big fifth inning from visiting Miami (Ohio): seven runs and counting, two runners in scoring position, just one out. The RedHawks, who 15 minutes prior had trailed 7-2, suddenly led the Bulldogs 9-7 in the first game of Saturday’s season-opening doubleheader at Nusz Park.
Then the Bulldogs showed why Soliz was able to keep her faith.
Willis recovered to get out of the inning without further damage, and No. 20 Mississippi State scraped across enough offense for a dramatic 10-9 comeback win to avoid a season-opening shocker in Starkville.
And in the second contest of the day, the Bulldogs (2-0) left no doubt. Paced by back-to-back home runs in the first inning by Mia Davidson and Fa Leilua, Mississippi State beat the RedHawks 10-3 to sweep Saturday’s doubleheader.
“It’s kind of special,” senior designated player Carter Spexarth said. “It’s the first time after 339 days. We were just super excited to get back out there.”
In Game 1, a walk-off walk by sophomore Paige Cook in the bottom of the seventh gave the Bulldogs the victory. Cook took a 3-1 pitch high for a bases-loaded free pass, scoring Fa Leilua from third base, shortly after a clutch two-out single by Spexarth scored Chloe Malau’ulu to tie the game 9-9. Spexarth led Mississippi State with three hits in the contest.
“I think there were some nerves there early on, but really proud of the fight and the finish to come back there in the seventh,” Mississippi State coach Samantha Ricketts said.
It was a much-needed spurt of offense by the Bulldogs after ace pitchers Emily Williams and Willis faltered in the top of the fifth on a 30-degree day at Nusz Park.
Miami’s Kaylee Juarez followed a two-run homer in the second inning with a two-run double with one out, prompting Ricketts to pull Williams for Willis. The Troy transfer didn’t fare much better, walking Allie Cummins with the bases loaded and giving up RBI singles to Morgan Lott and Jada Dotson. Then Mackenzie Moore laced a two-run double past the glove of Segars in left to give Miami the lead.
The Bulldogs got a run back in the sixth on a two-out, two-strike single by Montana Davidson. In the seventh, Malau’ulu singled with one out, Fa Leilua walked with two down, and Spexarth laced a base hit to right. She finished a game-high 3 of 5.
“She gets overshadowed a little bit because of Mia and Fa in front of her, and that’s why she’s so important to our lineup,” Ricketts said. “If you’re going to pitch around Mia and Fa, you’ve got to have someone who can do some damage, and she’s really embraced that role. She is such a clutch hitter for us.”
Spexarth also drove in the game’s first run in the first on a nearly identical single to right with the bases loaded, the only hit in a four-run first inning for the Bulldogs. Cook added a three-run home run — the first long ball of her college career — in the fourth inning.
“We’ve had a lot of underclassmen banging on the door, looking for a chance,” Ricketts said. “Really, going into the weekend, we weren’t sure who was going to get the nod if everybody was healthy. I think she really did a great job of taking advantage of her opportunity and really had some really mature at-bats. She’s really a gamer.”
Cook also played a role in Game 2, chopping a grounder to third base in the bottom of the first inning and bringing home a run as Moore mishandled the ball. It was the Bulldogs’ third run of the frame as Davidson launched her first homer of the season to left field and Leilua went deep to left center two pitches later.
“It felt like normal,” Ricketts said. “It felt like we were back and just the two of them doing what they do best on a tough pitcher.”
A two-run home run by Miami’s Kate Kobayashi halved the deficit in the third inning, but MSU promptly recouped the pair of tallies in the bottom of the frame. With the bases loaded, Jackie McKenna hit a chopper on the infield, and the RedHawks, trying to get the forceout at home plate, threw it away. Two Bulldogs came around to score.
McKenna doubled home a run in the fifth, and MSU added three more runs in the sixth on a sac fly, a double and a wild pitch.
Alyssa Loza pitched the first 4.2 innings for the Bulldogs in the nightcap, and Grace Fagan went the rest of the way.
Mississippi State’s series finale with the RedHawks, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Sunday at Nusz Park, was canceled Saturday night because of incoming winter weather. The game will not be made up.
Dawg notes
Starting shortstop Madisyn Kennedy injured her ankle in practice this week and did not play Saturday. Ricketts said Kennedy will be eased back in but should be back on the field soon. Sophomore Aquana Brownlee, who started at shortstop in Saturday’s first game, was injured dropping down a bunt for a base hit in the third inning. Ricketts said the pitch hit Brownlee in the finger, and she came out of the game in the fourth. Mia Davidson filled in at shortstop for the first time in her MSU career. Davidson finished the first contest at short and played the second game there, too.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.