South Carolina entered this past weekend with the Southeastern Conference’s second-best team ERA, but it was Mississippi State’s pitching that stole the show as the No. 16 Bulldogs went into Columbia and won two out of three from the No. 22 Gamecocks.
Josey Marron set the tone for the series with a complete-game shutout Friday evening, holding South Carolina to three hits without a walk and striking out seven in a 6-0 MSU victory. The Bulldogs (28-10, 8-7 SEC) banged out 13 hits and tagged Gamecocks ace Alana Vawter for four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, with Madisyn Kennedy striking the first blow on a solo home run to left field in the first inning.
Freshman Salen Hawkins stayed hot with an RBI single in the second, and MSU broke the game open in the fifth when pinch-hitter Lexi Sosa, primarily a pitcher, just missed a grand slam but settled for a long two-run single to extend the lead to 4-0. South Carolina intentionally walked Kennedy in the sixth, but the next two batters, Paige Cook and Jessie Blaine, made the Gamecocks pay with back-to-back RBI singles to complete the scoring.
That was more than enough for Marron, who allowed just three singles and did not let a runner reach even third base.
“We put runs on the board early and that kind of helped settle in on defense,” Marron said. “Our defense is locked down day in and day out, and I trust every single one of them. They will make any play when called upon.”
Wesley was just as sharp, if not more so, in Saturday’s game. The veteran right-hander shut out South Carolina (28-12, 4-8) on two hits and walked two batters while striking out nine as the Bulldogs clinched the series with a 4-0 win.
Sierra Sacco led off the game with a single and scored all the way from first on a double by Nadia Barbary. MSU added two more in the second on a little small ball, working three walks in the inning — the last of which, to pinch-hitter Aquana Brownlee, forced in a run. Sacco’s sacrifice fly to left brought in Kylee Edwards to give Wesley a three-run lead, and Kennedy drew a bases-loaded walk in the fourth for the final run of the game.
“In the first inning, I was kind of speeding myself up a little bit, and my teammates could tell because it didn’t feel like me. It didn’t feel like me up there,” Wesley said. “I guess it helps too when we score up on the scoreboard. That really got me settled and then I just trusted my pitches and didn’t try to do too much.”
Marron pitched well again Sunday, but Vawter was in top form this time as the Gamecocks won 3-1 to avoid the sweep. South Carolina scored its first run of the series in the opening inning before the Bulldogs battled back to tie things up in the second when Blaine worked a leadoff walk and ultimately scored on Edwards’ RBI single.
The Gamecocks appeared to retake the lead in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run home run by Kianna Jones, but MSU challenged the play and had the hit taken off the board because the runner on second left the base before Marron delivered the pitch. So the score remained tied until the sixth, when Bre Warren hit a two-run double that stood up as the game-winning hit.
The Bulldogs managed just four hits against Vawter, who only struck out two but recorded 11 outs on the ground. MSU returns home for a midweek game Wednesday evening against a quality South Alabama team, then hosts No. 6 Tennessee, the defending SEC regular season and tournament champion and current first-place team, for a three-game series starting Friday.
“You’ve got to give credit to Vawter. She’s a great pitcher. She does a great job,” Bulldogs head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “She mixed up her game plan and kept us off balance. We need to be able to capitalize and find a way to string together quality at-bats against a pitcher like that.”
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