Both Mississippi State baseball and softball teams took the field in weekend invitationals on Friday. Brian O’Connor led the Diamond Dawgs into Arlington, Texas, for a trio of games against Power 4 opposition while Samantha Ricketts led her Bulldog team to Clemson for a weekend of action at the Tiger Invitational.
Here’s a look at their respective wins to start the weekend.
No. 4 Mississippi State 8, Arizona State 4
The Diamond Dawgs improved to 10-0 on the year with an aggressive approach at the plate to kick off the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series on Friday.
Seven different batters combined for MSU’s seven hits in the win over Arizona State, breaking the game open in the middle innings to jump out in front, 7-1. Senior outfielder Bryce Chance broke the deadlock with an RBI single into left field with two runners on, and would get home himself on a home run by Gehrig Frei, who sent the first pitch he saw 382 feet over the right field wall.
The Sun Devils responded with a short rally, but got only one run home in the sixth inning, and the Bulldogs continued to pull away in the bottom half with RBI hits from Chone James and Reed Stallman. A home run from Aidan Teel in the eighth inning, his second of the season, made it eight on the board for the Bulldogs.
The Sun Devils registered a pair of solo home runs in the ninth inning, but it wasn’t enough to put the pressure on MSU closer Maddox Miller.
Starter Ryan McPherson picked up the win, tossing seven innings with five strikeouts, allowing four hits and one earned run in a strong outing.
MSU will continue its weekend in Arlington against Virginia Tech today at 3 p.m.
No. 12 Mississippi State 9, Wofford 1
The Mississippi State softball team kept rolling to 16-1 on the year with a run-rule win over Wofford at the Tiger Invitational on Friday.
Sophomore pitcher Leila Ammon picked up her fourth win of the season with five strikeouts, allowing just one run on four hits in 4.1 innings pitched. Alyssa Faircloth and Delaney Everett each got some work in out of the bullpen as well to keep Wofford to just one run through six innings.
Bulldog batters combined for 12 hits in the contest, with Morgan Bernardini driving in two RBI and Abby Grace Richardson providing a pinch-hit home run.
“(Bernardini) is just so consistent. Year-in and year-out, she does a great job understanding the situation, knowing what the pitchers are going to do to attack her, what they want to do, and what her goal needs to be to have a team at-bat to pick up RBIs,” head coach Samantha Ricketts said after the game. “She’s very mature, very collected, doesn’t get too big, and I think that’s a huge part of why she picks up the RBIs. She does it by not swinging for the fence, and just understanding that a ground ball to the right side will work or a sacrifice fly will work, whatever it’ll take.”
MSU will return to action today with a doubleheader against Georgia Southern and No. 25 Clemson.
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