STARKVILLE — Mississippi State pitcher Emily Williams has found her groove.
Not long removed from a sophomore season in which she struggled mightily in finding the strike zone, Williams continued her standout junior campaign with a complete game, one-hit shutout of UT Martin on Monday afternoon at Nusz Park.
“I just have a lot of support,” Williams said. “We have a lot of pitchers; everybody has been doing well. Everybody’s got your back, and if you don’t have a good day it’s nice to know that somebody is behind you.”
Generally subdued in her actions and speech, Williams quietly retired the first seven Skyhawk batters she faced with a devastating mix of a rise ball and changeup. Tossing just 76 pitches through five innings, the Carrollton, Georgia, product matched a career-high with 14 strikeouts on the afternoon.
“She’s got some great spin, some great movement,” MSU first-year coach Samantha Ricketts said. “Really great rise ball there they had a tough time laying off of, and when they did time it up she could mix in the change-up or something hard. So I think she did a good job of keeping them off balance all day long.”
Following a season in which control issues saw her walk roughly one out of every five batters she faced a year ago, Williams has been lights out in 12 appearances this year — currently boasting an ERA of 0.69, the third-best mark in the Southeastern Conference, along with 62 strikeouts.
“It’s been good for her to kind of take on that role of a No. 1 and to really embrace it and to go after it and to understand that she can get herself out of any jam with a big strikeout because she’s got elite stuff,” Ricketts said. “When she really trusts it she can compete with anybody.”
At the plate, the Bulldogs continued their hot-hitting ways to begin the 2020 campaign. Junior Carter Spexarth kept up her recent tear as she sent a 2-1 pitch into the trees down the left field line for a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning.
Finishing her day 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs and a run, Spexarth has now notched four hits, seven RBIs and two home runs in the past 48 hours.
“I think last year Kat Moore was really that person and it’s been really fun to try and step into that role,” she said of finding her spot in the order. “People don’t want to pitch to (Mia Davidson and Fa Leilua). They want to pitch to me. So it’s kind of fun to having a chip on my shoulder and giving them a reason to throw me strikes.”
“We could get used to that,” Ricketts quipped of Spexarth’s recent uptick. “She’s definitely seeing the ball well, and you can see her confidence growing every game. Really proud of her and just the consistency that she’s been able to put together for us this year in the lineup.”
Junior Mia Davidson, who left the game in the fourth inning after coming up limping running toward third base, belted her fifth home run of the season with a solo shot to right center field in the third inning — making her the 23rd player in Southeastern Conference history with 50 home runs.
Speaking with the media postgame, Ricketts said Davidson is fine following her gimpy strut off the diamond and was ready to reenter the game, but she kept her out for precautionary reasons.
Sophomore Chloe Malau’ulu also aided in the offensive effort — notching her 16th RBI of the season with a double off the wall in left center field to bring home senior Fa Leilua from second base.
With the victory Monday, Ricketts will become the fastest coach in MSU history to 20 wins should the Bulldogs defeat Bryant at 3 p.m. Friday.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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