Mississippi State Softball will enter 2027 with higher expectations than it has ever had.
The program is coming off its first Women’s College World Series in program history. For the first time, perhaps ever, the Bulldogs will start a season with a lot of eyes and a target on their back.
Looking ahead to next season, the program has questions it needs to answer before it starts its journey back to the WCWS.
Another arm?
It seemed almost certain that Mississippi State would start the 2027 season with a senior Alyssa Faircloth and a senior Delainey Everett as its top two arms.
Faircloth’s excellent 2026 year resulted in All-American honors. An early injury and stellar pitching from Faircloth and senior Peja Goold kept Everett out of the circle a lot of the year, but her two starts in the postseason, including a complete game shutout against Oklahoma, had Everett looking like a very possible second option for State next season.
But just two days after MSU’s season ended, Everett entered the transfer portal.
“After many thoughts, prayers, and conversations with family I have decided to enter the transfer portal!” Everett said in an X post on Sunday. “Thank you Mississippi State for everything and I’ll forever be grateful for the opportunity to be a bulldog!”
Leila Ammon will be coming off a sophomore season where she started 11 games, appearing in 19, with a 1.85 ERA. She earned praise from Goold and Head Coach Samantha Ricketts in the postgame press conference after State’s loss to Texas.
“Leila Ammon is really good too, and she just got kind of stuck behind the two older ones (Faircloth and Goold), but I’m excited for her future,” Ricketts said.
Ammon’s numbers suggest she could fill the role of the Bulldog’s number two starter, but Rickett’s track record as a portal recruiter is promising if she decides to get someone with more experience in the circle.
Faircloth came to Starkville by way of Troy, and Goold joined MSU from Chattanooga last offseason. Ammon herself was a portal addition, becoming a Bulldog after a Conference USA All-Freshman season at Middle Tennessee State.
How can MSU replace Bernardini, Barbary, Sells?
Maybe replace isn’t the right word, because it’s likely impossible to replace what the three meant to MSU Softball.
The trio of Morgan Bernardini, Kiarra Sells and Nadia Barbary spent all four years of their collegiate career in Starkville, sticking through a freshman season where they failed to see NCAA tournament action to finish their career at the Women’s College World Series.
“Whether it was Ki (Sells), Mo B (Bernardini), Nadia, the ones who were here for four years and really trusted us… for them to go out in Oklahoma City, it just means the world,” Ricketts said. “I’m just so thankful for them and what they’ve done for us, and we’re going to continue to build off of the foundation they set.”
Their departure also leaves a massive hole in production. The three had a combined 187 starts during the regular season. Sells led the team in OPS and was tied for the lead in home runs (14) with Barbary.
Barbary, Sells and Bernardini were the top three run creators for MSU, finishing the season top-three in RBI on the team.
Sophomore Morgan Stiles and freshman Kinley Keller showed promise with a bat in their hands last year, but the departures of Barbary, Sells and Bernardini leaves a huge hole in an offense that struggled mightily in 2026.
MSU’s offense ranked 181st in scoring in Division I last season, and have now lost the three biggest pieces who kept that poor ranking from being even worse. In the portal, Ricketts will have to answer State’s offensive struggles.
Jake is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for The Dispatch.
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