The Mississippi State softball team got its 2022 season off to a good start with a 4-2 win over Loyola Marymount on Friday afternoon at the Mark Campbell Collegiate Invitational in Irvine, California.
Then the Bulldogs were reminded by a pair of top teams how much work there is yet to be done.
MSU (1-2) lost 9-0 to No. 1 Oklahoma on Friday night and 8-0 to No. 3 on Saturday afternoon. Both games ended on the run rule in five innings.
The Bulldogs managed just two hits against the Sooners’ Nicole May and four against the Bruins’ Megan Faraimo. Oklahoma hit freshman starter Bri Bower hard, and UCLA did the same to graduate starter Annie Willis.
Errors hurt Mississippi State in all three games, including Friday’s win. Just six of Oklahoma’s nine runs were earned; only four of UCLA’s eight were earned as well.
Even in the win over the Lions, errors led to both Loyola Marymount runs. Pitcher Aspen Wesley’s errant throw on a sacrifice bunt led to a runner scoring from second in the second inning. In the fifth, LMU tied the game 2-2 on a throwing error by catcher Mia Davidson.
But Mississippi State pulled out the win on a two-run single by second baseman Paige Cook. Cook sliced the ball between first and second base to bring home a pair in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Willis closed things out in the seventh.
The Bulldogs’ first two runs came on a first-inning home run by New Mexico State transfer Matalasi Faapito in her first at-bat with the team. Also a pitcher, Faapito allowed an unearned run in an inning of work against Oklahoma.
The Sooners hit three home runs against MSU pitching, while the Bruins hit one. But those top teams treat nearly everyone the same way: Oklahoma won in five innings 31 times in 2021, and UCLA did so 14 times.
Mississippi State closes out its opening weekend at Loyola Marymount as part of the LMU Tournament at 11 a.m. Sunday in Los Angeles.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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