Fa Leilua didn’t want it to end.
One strike away from reaching the terminus of her illustrious college career, the Mississippi State graduate first baseman lined a 2-2 pitch on a hop to Oklahoma State shortstop Kiley Naomi. Turning on the jets, Leilua powered through first base as Naomi bobbled the sharply hit softball. She was ruled safe and credited with an infield hit.
Carter Spexarth popped out to second three pitches later, finishing off the Bulldogs’ final game of the 2021 season: a 10-2, run-rule loss to the host Cowgirls on Sunday at the NCAA’s Stillwater Regional.
But Leilua’s single was one final reminder: The Bulldogs had battled all the way to the end.
“We fell short, but it is what it is,” Leilua said. “We fought the good fight.”
From an 0-13 start to Southeastern Conference play to an eight-game win streak to lock up a regional berth, Mississippi State (35-25, 8-15 SEC) embodied that fighting mentality throughout 2021. The Bulldogs’ first conference win against Texas A&M in Starkville kick-started their run, and they took two of three from South Carolina, swept Tennessee in a doubleheader, swept Georgia to close the regular season and beat Ole Miss in the SEC tournament before a loss to Florida.
But Oklahoma State proved to be a different animal when the two teams met for the second time on the weekend. The Cowgirls (45-9, 15-3 Big 12) once again crushed Mississippi State pitching, posting a four-run second inning and a five-run fourth to batter the Bulldogs.
It wasn’t just the heart of the order that found success at the plate, either. Although No. 3 hitter Alysen Febrey had an RBI double and walked to drive in a run and cleanup hitter Hayley Busby broke the game open with a grand slam, the Cowgirls found success elsewhere.
Their No. 1 through No. 8 hitters all had at least one hit, and Sydney Pennington and Reagan Wright homered out of the No. 5 and No. 7 spots, respectively.
“They’re tough one through nine,” Mississippi State coach Samantha Ricketts said. “You don’t get a hitter off. Even the bottom of their lineup is going to be able to do damage.”
While the lower part of the Bulldogs’ order was itself effective, Mississippi State generally struggled to hit the Cowgirls’ Carrie Eberle. The No. 3-No. 7 spots in the Bulldogs’ order went just 1 for 11, with the lone hit a Mia Davidson RBI single in the first inning that put MSU ahead 1-0.
Davidson’s sister Montana matched her with a run-scoring base hit in the second, scoring Christian Quinn from second base. But the single only served to shave down the three-run lead Oklahoma State took in the top of the inning with Wright’s home run, a Kiley Naomi sac fly and Febrey’s double down the right-field line.
Pennington set her school’s all-time home run record with 36 with a solo shot off the first pitch she saw from Annie Willis in the third, and Busby’s grand slam in the fourth put the Cowgirls in control. Leilua’s infield hit made her the Bulldogs’ only baserunner in the final two innings.
“That’s a great team over there,” Ricketts said. “There’s a reason they’re a top-five seed. I think they do everything well: pitching, hitting and defense.”
Mississippi State found that out in a 9-3 loss to Oklahoma State in Saturday’s winners’ bracket game, which followed a similar path: The Bulldogs took an early lead before the Cowgirls roared back with a vengeance.
MSU responded by thrashing Campbell 12-0 in Saturday evening’s elimination game to reach Sunday’s regional final. Needing two wins to move on to super regionals, the Bulldogs failed to force a decisive Game 7 and earn a chance to eliminate the host Cowgirls.
Mississippi State will lose Leilua, Quinn and reliever Alyssa Loza, who entered in the fourth and pitched the final two innings, to graduation. The Bulldogs are expected to return both Davidson sisters, Willis and fellow senior pitcher Emily Williams and designated player Carter Spexarth in 2022, and they’ll bring in a talented recruiting class led by Kentucky Gatorade Softball Player of the Year Riley Hull and Illinois pitcher Bri Bower.
Leilua won’t be part of that group, but she said the team’s third straight regional final appearance will set the tone for what’s to come.
“We had a rough start, but we finished off pretty strong,” she said.
For a Mississippi State team few expected to reach this point, that’s all the Bulldogs can ask for.
“No one thought that we would even be here, so it’s just a blessing to be here,” Quinn said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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