STARKVILLE — Mississippi State softball hasn’t won a series since a trip to South Carolina a month ago, but they got off to a great start on the final weekend of the regular season with a 2-0 win over No. 12 Georgia on Friday. Starter Aspen Wesley struck out eight Georgia batters and allowed just three hits in a much-needed complete shutout win.
“I thought we did a good job of just doing little things right, and that’s been the message for the last week or so just trying to get back to playing our game,” head coach Samantha Ricketts said after the win. “Not worrying so much about the scoreboard, but can we score first, can we get a shutdown inning, just a lot of the little process things that will add up to a win on the scoreboard.”
MSU didn’t have much going on at the plate either, but a solo home run from Madisyn Kennedy and an RBI single from Salen Hawkins were enough to see them over the line and start the series 1-0.
“The defense was amazing, and whatever coach called I just tried to spin it as much as I could,” Wesley said. “Obviously I know they can hit very hard, and as long as I could get some mishits that would be great for us.”
Wesley also noted that she started crying after the game because of what the win meant. This was a game that hurt them last year and she expressed how much it meant for them to start the series off with a win.
It wasn’t just a performance the team needed, but also a performance Kennedy needed. The power swinger has struggled like her teammates recently but reminded everyone, including herself, just what she’s capable of when she steps up to the plate.
“We all tend to get in our heads sometimes and I think that was her breakthrough,” Wesley said of Kennedy’s rough patch. “I’ve been telling her that she’s going to get it no matter what. She’s not going to stay in her forever she’s just got to keep swinging hard, and that’s exactly what she did.”
Kennedy certainly got the big swing for MSU, settling nerves as they took the lead in a tight game. It was a record-setting 12th SEC homer of the year, the most of any MSU player in a single season, and a payoff home run for her personally as she attempts to put a difficult stretch of at-bats behind her.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t struggling recently,” Kennedy said. “I think I just needed to have confidence coming from the coaches and my teammates and know that no matter what they’re going to have my back and have a lot of confidence that we’re gonna get it done somehow. Aspen did pitch a heck of a game and we just wanted to have her back.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.