STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State softball season ended in a less-than-surprising fashion Wednesday night.
Playing before a crowd of 1,436 in the first Southeastern Conference tournament at Nusz Park, MSU committed five errors and fell to No. 4 Alabama 7-5.
“You have to keep your head up,” MSU senior shortstop Kayla Winkfield said. “You have to be ready for the next pitch. We made mistakes. We made too many mistakes. It seemed like that was our season. We were close. We didn’t play well enough in the end.”
Alabama (46-11) will face No. 8 Auburn (46-9) at 6:30 p.m. today in the quarterfinals. MSU (26-31) ends the season with a losing record for the first time in five seasons under Vann Stuedeman.
The loss snapped MSU’s run of four-straight regional berths.
“The girls competed the entire season,” Stuedeman said. “There was so much heart and determination in this team. They never laid down when things didn’t go our way. The hardest thing to do in this league is to keep going when you are dealing with adversity. We were down but never out.
“We had the same type of work ethic we have always had here. We just didn’t have the same results. It’s disappointing. I wish the new season started tomorrow.”
MSU showed flashes of ability. The Bulldogs also showed why they won three out of 24 games in the SEC regular season.
MSU, which entered the tournament last in the league in hitting, outhit Alabama, 7-6, but its five errors led to three unearned runs.
MSU grabbed a 2-0 lead on a first-inning home run by Mackenzie Toler. The Bulldogs gave that lead back when Leona Lafaele hit a three-run home run off Alexis Silkwood in the bottom half of the inning.
Silkwood won 26 games as a sophomore. She took the loss Wednesday to end the year 4-13. The Bulldogs finished with a .247 team batting average — a 65-point drop from last season’s 36-win team.
“We didn’t get the results we wanted this year,” Stuedeman said. “We have almost everybody back from this year’s team. Hopefully, (failing to make a regional) will put a huge chip on their shoulder. This should make them work that much harder during the offseason.
“We have an expectation around here. We play in the postseason. For whatever reason, we struggled mightily this season. Now we address those concerns and get headed back in the right direction.”
Alabama entered the tournament trying to nail down a national seed. Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said the key to the victory was his team’s ability to score two more runs in the first after Holly Ward replaced Silkwood.
“Five runs in the first inning were huge,” Murphy said. “To not quit scoring after the home run was huge. That was really the difference. There was a large crowd and the home team wants to play well in front of that crowd. To be able to grab the momentum back quickly was huge.”
From there, the Bulldogs were in an uphill fight.
In the third, Winkfield and Caroline Seitz had RBI doubles to pull the Bulldogs within 5-4, but MSU couldn’t get over the hump and allowed unearned runs in the third and fifth.
“We knew we had to keep scoring,” Lafaele said. “Coach wanted us to approach this tournament with a different mind-set. You are playing against 11 of the best teams in the country. To win games, you have to keep scoring, so that is how we approached this game. We really wanted to keep scoring.
“The home run felt great. I knew we needed answer. Like coach said, after we got the lead it was important to keep scoring, and we did just that.”
The Bulldogs were held to fewer than five runs in 10 of their final 11 conference games in the regular season.
“The biggest difference tonight was the crowd,” Stuedeman said. “We were outscored 23-2 in Tuscaloosa. Tonight, you saw a totally different game. We were competitive. We were in the game. We were one base hit away. That’s in large part to this great crowd.
“They turned out all year for the new stadium and to be a part of something special.”
Senior left fielder Loryn Nichols was disappointed to see her MSU career end Wednesday night, but she sees the potential in the program.
“It was great to have this tournament at home,” Nichols said. “Everybody has been excited the whole season about playing in this tournament and getting to do it at home. To take the field and to play at home, it’s special. I really can’t put into words the fact that my career here is now over.
“For the seniors, there are a lot of special memories. Hopefully, we have left something the team next year can embrace.”
Alabama ace Alexis Osorio stood tallest. Stuedeman said she felt like her team had Osorio on the ropes twice. In the end, she threw 153 pitches in a complete game.
“When she is working like that, it’s fun,” Alabama left fielder Kallie Case said. “You see here out there laying it all on the line on every pitch. She gutted this win out.”
Alabama will face Auburn for the first time this season in a chance for both teams to add to their resumes in hopes of earning a national seed.
“Anytime we play it’s special,” Murphy said. “Auburn scores runs, lots of them. I think this will be fun.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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