The Mississippi State softball team missed its first chance to finish off Louisville in Saturday afternoon’s game at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida.
The Bulldogs didn’t miss their second.
Mississippi State took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning, but a single and an error put runners on first and second with none out. After junior pitcher Emily Williams, who entered in relief of Troy transfer Annie Willis, induced a pop-up and recorded a strikeout, Williams allowed a single to load the bases and walked in the tying run, sending the game to extra innings.
Using the international tiebreaker in which a runner is automatically placed on second base to start each extra inning, the Bulldogs scratched across a run in their half of the eighth. Louisville landed runners on the corners, but Williams bore down and retired the next three hitters to clinch a hard-earned 3-2 win for Mississippi State (3-0) over Louisville (1-3).
The win preserved a perfect start to the weekend tournament for the Bulldogs with the exception of Friday night’s 4-0 loss to Team USA in an exhibition game. Fortunately for Mississippi State, that one won’t count in the standings.
Louisville opened the scoring in the third inning on a fielding error by freshman shortstop Madisyn Kennedy, but Mississippi State’s Christian Quinn doubled home a run in the fourth to answer. Kennedy put the Bulldogs on top with an RBI double of her own in the top of the sixth.
But Louisville pitcher Taylor Roby turned an 0-2 count into a walk to tie the game with two away in the bottom of the seventh.
With Anna Kate Segars placed on second in the eighth, Chloe Malau’ulu bunted her to third; a fielder’s choice from Montana Davidson brought Segars in for the go-ahead run.
Williams got out of the jam in the bottom of the inning by striking out Cassady Greenwood, getting Maddy Newman to ground to second and fanning Charley Butler to preserve the victory.
“I’m very proud of our effort in both games today,” head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “The pitching staff was attacking the zone and Emily Williams did a great job closing out both games. Having to come from behind in both games today and play extra innings was a good test for us both offensively and defensively and I liked the composure and fight we showed all day long.
Mississippi State will play North Carolina State (2-2) at 11 a.m. Sunday in Clearwater.
Here’s a quick look at the Bulldogs’ other action so far this weekend.
Mississippi State 9, Liberty 2
Fa Leilua hit a grand slam and drove in five runs as the Bulldogs pulled away from Liberty (0-4) to win Saturday’s game 9-2.
Leilua’s shot to right center field came with two out and the bases full in the bottom of the sixth, putting the finishing touches on Mississippi State’s win. She also had an RBI single in a three-run fifth inning.
Candace Denis also had a run-scoring hit in the fifth, and Carter Spexarth walked, pushing the Bulldogs’ lead from 2-1 to 5-1.
Amber Bishop uncorked a solo shot to lead off the sixth for Liberty, but Leilua got the run back and then some.
Mississippi State faced an early deficit when Liberty’s Denay Griffin hit a one-out solo homer off Grace Fagan in the second, but Mia Davidson got the run back by driving the first pitch out of the park in the bottom of the fourth.
Kennedy added an RBI single later in the inning to give Mississippi State the lead.
Fagan pitched the first five innings, giving up just two hits and striking out six; Williams took over in the circle for the final two frames.
Mississippi State 5, Missouri State 0, Friday
Leilua’s hard-hit, two-run double to center field was the key blow in a four-run third inning that helped Mississippi State blank Missouri State 5-0 on Friday in Clearwater. Willis pitched five shutout innings in her first start with the Bulldogs, and Williams closed it out for Mississippi State.
Leilua, Denis and Spexarth each had two hits for the Bulldogs, and Malau’ulu opened the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning.
In the third, Quinn opened with a single, and Denis followed with a ground-rule double. After Mia Davidson walked, Leilua came through by driving in two, and Spexarth followed with a run-scoring infield single. Montana Davidson drove in Leilua with a sac fly to right as the Bulldogs plated four in the inning to grab a 5-0 lead.
Willis settled in after that, improving from a lot of 3-2 counts early in the game to dispatch Bears hitters with less effort. In the bottom of the third, she quickly struck out all three Missouri State hitters. Willis finished her outing with a line of five scoreless innings pitched, three hits, one walk and seven strikeouts.
From there, Williams took over and had no difficulty closing out the game. Williams totaled three strikeouts in a pair of 1-2-3 innings.
Team USA 4, Mississippi State 0, exhibition, Friday
The Bulldogs dropped Friday evening’s exhibition contest against the U.S. Women’s National Team by a score of 4-0.
Team USA pitcher Monica Abbott struck out 10 Mississippi State hitters in five scoreless innings, and Ally Carda closed it out with two scoreless frames.
Ali Aguilar drove in two runs for Team USA with an RBI double in the third and an RBI single in the fifth. Haylie McCleney opened the scoring by plating Taylor Edwards with a double in the third, and Edwards ripped a solo home run in the fifth.
Alyssa Loza pitched the first three innings for Mississippi State in the exhibition, allowing two runs. Freshman Kenley Hawk allowed two runs over the next two frames, and freshman Aspen Wesley pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Head coach Samantha Ricketts’ sister Keilani, part of the Team USA roster, did not appear in Friday’s contest.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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