In her first two seasons at Mississippi State, Morgan Bernardini never started a game and had two hits — both singles — in 13 total at-bats. But she has become an impact bat since taking over as the Bulldogs’ starting left fielder in this, her junior season.
Bernardini had her seven-game hitting streak snapped Sunday against Georgia Tech, but she rebounded in a big way in Tuesday’s 6-1 win over Samford. She singled and scored a run in the second inning, hit an RBI double in the third and capped her career day with a three-run home run in the fifth, the first long ball of her collegiate career.
“It’s just so satisfying to see a player like her be rewarded,” head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “She’s one of those young women who does everything right. She works hard. She’s a great teammate. She’s put in the time, and she’s learned and gotten better and better, year after year. To see that paying off for someone who’s gone about it in the right way is just really special.”
Sophomore left-hander Delainey Everett made her first start of the season and held Samford to two hits and no walks over five strong innings. Her only mistake came in the fifth, when Katie Campbell led off with a homer over the wall in right-center field. It was the first run Everett has allowed all year.
MSU (10-1) opened the scoring in the second when Jessie Blaine drew a leadoff walk, Bernardini singled to left and Kylee Edwards advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt. Riley Hull, a senior who has reclaimed the starting role at first base after Madisyn Kennedy supplanted her there last year, drove them both in with an opposite-field two-run single.
“I was struggling at the beginning of the season just to find grass,” Hull said. “I obviously needed to get (the ball) into the air, so that it was a base hit was just the cherry on top for it.”
Bernardini — a day before her 21st birthday — extended the MSU lead to three an inning later on a double to the gap in right-center. With runners at first and second and two outs in the fifth, Bernardini hit a fly ball to deep left that Katie Hart got her glove on, but Samford’s outfielder could not squeeze it and the ball dropped on the other side of the fence for a three-run shot.
Josey Marron pitched the final two innings, issuing a walk but holding Samford without a hit. MSU suffered a walk-off loss at Samford last April as part of a late-season offensive slide, so Tuesday’s victory was a measure of revenge for Ricketts’ team.
The Bulldogs head to Madison, Ala., this weekend for the Rocket City Softball Showcase at Toyota Field, home of Minor League Baseball’s Rocket City Trash Pandas. MSU will play Jacksonville State on Friday, Louisiana Tech and North Alabama on Saturday and Miami-Ohio on Sunday.
“We know every game is important, especially when it comes to postseason and seeding,” Ricketts said. “We have to be locked in and ready to play Mississippi State softball no matter who’s in the other dugout. Whether it’s a ranked team, a midweek, it doesn’t matter for us. That’s something we’re really working hard on for this season.”
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