One strike away from being on the wrong end of a deflating sweep, Mississippi State picked itself up off the mat at the last possible moment.
The No. 18 Bulldogs had scored just one run in the first two games of the weekend series at No. 14 Missouri and were on the verge of being shut out again Monday night, trailing by two runs with two outs and a runner on second in the top of the seventh inning. Pinch-hitter Matalasi Faapito, who had taken just 10 at-bats all season, was at the plate.
On a 2-2 pitch from Tigers ace Laurin Krings, Faapito stuck her bat out and hit a fly ball into left-center field that dropped between the outfielders for a hit, scoring Kylee Edwards to put MSU on the board and keep the game going. Following a walk to Sierra Sacco, Nadia Barbary hit a line drive to center that rolled all the way to the wall, bringing in pinch-runner Jadyn Burney and Sacco to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the series.
They would hang on as veteran Aspen Wesley struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to secure a 3-2 MSU victory, snapping a four-game skid.
“It felt good to break through, and you could just feel the tension kind of release,” Bulldogs head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “They did a great job of really staying together through the struggles of the last couple of weeks. The pitchers were great all weekend at having our backs, and it was nice to be able to mount that comeback for them.”
For the third straight game, Missouri opened the scoring in the first inning, taking an early lead when Jenna Laird hit leadoff double, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly. Wesley kept the Tigers scoreless from there until the sixth, when Alex Honnold’s solo home run doubled the lead, but she allowed just three hits in the complete-game win, striking out five without issuing a walk.
“It was Aspen’s game,” Ricketts said. “She had been on all game long, just attacking and mixing pitches. I’m really proud of her for her fight and to go right after them in the seventh.”
MSU (31-16, 10-11 Southeastern Conference) had a couple of scoring chances earlier in the game before breaking through late. The Bulldogs loaded the bases in the third for their best all-around hitter, Madisyn Kennedy, but Kennedy’s slump continued as she flied out to left field. In the fifth, MSU put two runners on with one out for the top of the lineup, but Sacco grounded into a force out and Barbary grounded out to shortstop.
In the seventh, though, Edwards’ line drive dropped just fair inside the right-field line for a one-out double. Salen Hawkins hit a liner directly at the left fielder for the second out, but after Faapito’s RBI single, Missouri (37-14, 10-11) turned to Taylor Pannell, who leads all of college softball with 11 saves. But Sacco’s walk and Barbary’s two-run double flipped the game on its head and instead saddled Pannell with the loss.
The Bulldogs return home to close out the regular season with a three-game series against No. 14 Georgia starting Friday.
“It really was a team effort,” Ricketts said. “I’m just really proud of the fight, the grit and the willingness to stay positive and stay together through the ups and downs.”
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