STARKVILLE — A loss to North Dakota State at home was not the start to the week that Mississippi State softball was looking for.
Following a 2-2 showing at the Bulldog Invitational that included two losses to No. 1 Oklahoma, the Bulldogs needed to regroup after recording just one hit against the Bison.
Regroup they did, taking care of Purdue before the start of Southeastern Conference play against South Carolina.
The series began with fireworks, literally and figuratively, on Friday night and ended with a flourish as Mississippi State swept the Gamecocks, sending a message to the rest of the conference in the process.
“Don’t count us out,” senior Paige Cook said on Sunday.
Cook went off at the plate against the Gamecocks, hitting two homers. She already has six on the season.
The long ball took the Bulldogs (22-8, 3-0 SEC) a long way in the final two games of the series.
Her two-run blast in the fourth inning on Saturday got the scoring started for Mississippi State, and three homers on Sunday accounted for eight of nine runs in a 9-1 mercy rule victory.
“We talk all the time about what lessons can we learn after every win and every loss,” Mississippi State head coach Samantha Ricketts said on Sunday. “I think the North Dakota State game was a good little wake-up call for us and to make sure we got right in where we needed to be heading into the weekend. Big credit to our upperclassmen. I thought they were the ones who spearheaded the ‘Let’s get this right. Let’s get everyone on board.’”
Friday night was the most exciting of the three games, going to extras at Nusz Park after the Bulldogs tied things up at 4-4 in the seventh inning.
Mississippi State and South Carolina (23-7, 1-5 SEC) would need 10 innings to decide things, and despite the Gamecocks taking a 5-4 lead in the top of the 10th, Riley Hull came up the hero in the bottom-half with a two-run walk-off single.
“This team more than ever, I think, has shown so much grit, the ability to stay focused and not ever feel like they’re out of a game until the end,” Ricketts said on Sunday. “That’s a hard thing to do. It’s a hard thing to teach…I think they’re starting to see it and believe it a lot more every game we bounce back.”
As the Bulldogs have excelled in both small ball and the long ball, the offense was aided well in the last two games of the series by pitching.
Mississippi State gave up just two runs and seven hits Saturday and Sunday combined, behind the trio Aspen Wesley, Matalasi Faapito and Reis Beuerlein.
Wesley had one of the best pitching performances of her career on Saturday afternoon, striking out seven and giving up one earned run in a complete game win.
“She threw a great game,” Ricketts said Saturday. “She came out and stayed in control the entire game. She was attacking the zone, going right at the hitters, did just a great job mixing and was calm and collected and gave us a chance to get the offense going there.”
From one hit in a loss to a mercy rule victory, a series sweep and a perfect 3-0 start in conference play, the Bulldogs quickly righted the ship and showcased the force they want to be in the SEC this season.
“We know what we can do and we knew that wasn’t us,” Madisyn Kennedy said Sunday. “It wasn’t our best game at all, but we knew that this weekend, we were coming in trying to bounce back and show everyone what we can do.”
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