OKLAHOMA CITY — Mississippi State softball is leaving Oklahoma City winless and scoreless.
The Bulldogs were eliminated from the Women’s College World Series Friday in a 4-0 loss to Texas. It was the second straight game MSU failed to cross home plate. Through its two games at the WCWS, MSU tallied only six hits.
Texas starter Teagan Kavan controlled the Bulldogs for a complete game shutout. She allowed only four hits, three to sophomore Xiane Romero and one to freshman Kinley Keller, on just 78 pitches.
Head coach Samantha Ricketts said that the offensive problems were a struggle “adjusting to the stage.”
“You could feel the nerves. It’s a big stage. A big moment,” Ricketts said. “I thought we had a lot of really hard hit balls, just couldn’t find the hole. But when you’re facing first-team All-American pitcher after first-team All-American pitcher, you got to find a break here and there.”
State’s approach was to be aggressive with Kavan, part of the reason why Kavan’s pitch count stayed under 80. Ricketts said her hitters too often fell down in the count early.
“I thought she did a great job of just keeping us off balance,” Ricketts said.
State had its chance late in the game. In the bottom of the seventh, Romero and Keller reached with nobody out. Kavan killed any hopes of a comeback bid, getting the next three out in order.
MSU pitching kept the Bulldogs within striking distance. Starter Delainey Everett went four innings, allowing two runs and three hits. A two-run shot from Texas’ Kaiah Altmeyer, her first home run of the year, was Everett’s big blemish in an otherwise solid outing.
Senior Peja Goold entered in the fifth, and went 2.1 innings out of the bullpen. Goold was pulled after a one out RBI double in the seventh from Viviana Martinez made it 4-0. Goold left the field, her final time doing so in college, to a chorus of cheers from the MSU faithful.
Junior Alyssa Faircloth got the final two outs in the seventh.
Altmeyer’s two-run home run opened the scoring in the second inning. Junior Kayden Henry built on the Longhorn lead with a solo shot in the fifth. Martinez’s double rounded out scoring, sending home Texas star Katie Stewart in a bang-bang play at the plate.
With the loss, MSU’s historic season comes to an abrupt close.
When asked what she is going to remember from being a part of this year’s team, senior Nadia Barabary said “everything.”
“We literally did the unthinkable, we were making history throughout our whole season,” senior Morgan Bernardini said. “Yes, this sucks right now, but what better way to end it at the end.”
Jake is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for The Dispatch.
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