STARKVILLE — Mia Davidson became the latest Mississippi State softball player to come down with the cold that has been making the rounds in the Bulldogs’ clubhouse for the past month.

Not that MSU’s star player was going to let a little sickness stop her.

Davidson belted a walk-off solo home run to center as Mississippi State (27-17) held off Louisiana-Monroe (23-17) with a 2-1 victory on Tuesday at Nusz Park.

“We were joking around before the game that it was going to be like her MJ flu game, and then, of course, she does that,” Mississippi State coach Samantha Ricketts said. “It’s about right for her.”

Davidson, unable to speak to media postgame because of her illness, homered for the 18th time this season, putting her in a tie for third place nationally. The Southeastern Conference’s all-time home run leader sent a 1-2 pitch out to center field, slamming it off a camera rig behind the wall.

She finished 3 of 4 in the game, putting herself on board with a pair of infield singles in the third and fifth innings.

Ricketts said she wasn’t surprised by the “team-first” attitude Davidson once again displayed.

“Ultimately, it wasn’t even a question of her wanting to play, be out there and do what she could to contribute,” Ricketts said. “Even before that, she was finding her way on base when we needed some baserunners there. … Just being able to come up big even when she’s not feeling her best is just really at this point kind of standard for Mia.”

Davidson carried the Bulldogs in a pitchers’ duel against the Warhawks, who matched up well against the home team nearly all evening. ULM answered a second-inning MSU run with a fourth-inning single down the left-field line by Gabby Davila.

Victoria Abrams pitched a complete game for the Warhawks, allowing just six hits despite only striking out one batter. Abrams danced out of sixth-inning trouble of her own creation, hitting three Mississippi State batters to load the bases but getting a pair of ground balls to end the threat.

“I thought their pitcher did a great job of mixing it up,” Ricketts said. “When we would adjust, she adjusted back.”

But the Bulldogs’ hurlers held their own in the winning effort. Annie Willis drew the start and struck out seven in four innings, while lefty Grace Fagan pitched three scoreless relief innings.

Ricketts praised Fagan’s ability to mix speeds and throw strikes to offer a change of pace in the circle.

“I think we definitely gave ourselves a chance and kept the runs limited,” Fagan said of her and Willis’ performances. “I think we both did our job and got ahead early and limited the damage and basically just gave us a chance to stay in the game even though it was tight.”

Ricketts said Fagan has done well in practice over the past few weeks and that her performance Tuesday could lead to more opportunities soon.

“We’re hoping that’s going to propel her into some more innings for us in SEC play,” Ricketts said.

The Bulldogs return to conference action Thursday against Auburn at Nusz Park, but first they head to Lexington, Tennessee, on Wednesday to take on UT Martin in another midweek clash.

MSU is coming off a sweep by No. 2 Alabama over the weekend in Tuscaloosa, but the Bulldogs were close in all three games and held leads in the first two.

“Seeing that Alabama was No. 2, that didn’t faze us one bit,” shortstop Madisyn Kennedy said.

Kennedy helped Mississippi State snag an early lead Tuesday, erasing a baserunner on a slick 6-3 double play before lining a single up the middle to bring home Matalasi Faapito in the second.

But after ULM tied things in the fourth, the game was deadlocked.

Until Davidson stepped to the plate in the seventh, ready to do damage. Fagan and Kennedy both said the Bulldogs’ dugout had plenty of confidence in Davidson — cold or no cold — and their faith was rewarded.

“Mia is Mia, so she’s going to get things done,” Kennedy said.

Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.