Just months after her playing career at Mississippi State came to a close, Matalasi Faapito is stepping into a new role with the Bulldogs as a graduate assistant for the 2025 season.
Faapito played her first two college seasons at New Mexico State, leading the Aggies with a .399 batting average and 1.264 OPS in 2021 en route to WAC Freshman of the Year honors. She led her conference in slugging percentage, hits, home runs and total bases, then entered the transfer portal and landed at MSU to help continue the pipeline of players with Samoan heritage to Starkville.
In three seasons with the Bulldogs, Faapito batted .227 with 19 homers and 59 runs batted in, the bulk of that offensive production coming in 2022 when MSU reached its first-ever NCAA super regional. This past spring, she batted just 22 times but had a .611 on-base percentage and hit her only home run of the season in her final game at Nusz Park — on Samoan Heritage Day, no less.
In the pitcher’s circle, Faapito was 11-9 with a 2.70 ERA in 137 1/3 innings as a Bulldog. She earned her degree in sociology and will help the coaching staff handle office operations, analytic data collection and camp administration. She will also be able to throw batting practice.
“We are excited to keep Matalasi in Starkville and add her to our staff this season,” head coach Samantha Ricketts said in a news release. “Mata has a lot of pride in our program and has played a big part in our recent success. We are thrilled that she will continue to be a part of that. She will now help mentor the next group of Bulldogs while assisting the coaching staff with day-to-day operations and development.”
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