Mississippi State softball suffered its second SEC series loss of the season this weekend. The No. 11 Bulldogs (19-6, 2-4 SEC) hit the road to face their conference namesake, and couldn’t get going at a consistent rate offensively in three back-and-forth games.
MSU spent much of its weekend in Athens playing catch-up against No. 15 UGA. The Georgia Bulldogs came into the series ranked 18th in the nation in total offense, and showed why with prolific performances in Games 1 and 3.
MSU took a 3-0 lead into the fifth inning on Friday before a six-run avalanche from the hosts gave them command of the contest. Only one run was earned on starting pitcher Peja Goold’s statsheet for the night, with a fielding error at third base contributing to MSU’s unraveling. A two RBI hit and a two-run home run put UGA up 6-3 going into the sixth, and MSU failed to find momentum again.
Game 2 saw the storyline flip, with MSU coming from behind to win, 3-2, thanks to home runs in the sixth inning by Kiarra Sells and Kenley Keller, but the hosts would respond with a dominant start to the Sunday rubber match. Georgia built a 7-0 lead in the first three innings that proved to be too much for MSU to overcome in a 7-4 loss. Des Rivera and Taylor Troutman helped to chip away at the lead and give the Bulldogs a chance in the seventh inning, but they fell three runs short of forcing extra innings.
“If we learn one lesson from this weekend, it’s showing some fight and battling back and knowing that you have to be ready to do that every inning in this conference,” MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts said of the Game 3 defeat. “It was good to show some fight late, but you know we shouldn’t have been in that situation to begin with.”
Ricketts praised Troutman for delivering in a clutch situation again. The redshirt freshman hit late-game home runs in back-to-back games against No. 1 Tennessee last week, including a walk-off to win Game 2 of the 2-1 series loss. Her power hitting has made her a valuable squad member after missing her first year with a torn ACL, and her bat will be even more valuable as the Bulldogs push to win their first SEC series of the season next week against No. 21 South Carolina in Starkville.
“She has been seeing it well, and it provides a different look to protect the top of the order,” Ricketts said. “She’s got a bright future, and she’s just getting better and learning every single weekend.”
MSU’s next game will be against UT Martin at home at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The Bulldogs will then play a wraparound Saturday-Monday series against the Gamecocks, with the Sunday and Monday contests airing in primetime on SEC Network.
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