STARKVILLE — The tying run was on the way to home plate.
South Carolina’s Nia McKnight was following in the cleatprints of teammates Tori Ensley and Arianna Rodi in an effort to tie the game after one swing of the bat by Lexi Winters.
Mississippi State shortstop Morgan Stiles acted quickly after catching the throw from center field, turning and throwing to catcher Des Rivera just in time for her to tag McKnight and keep MSU ahead in the ballgame.
Alyssa Faircloth picked up a strikeout before Peja Goold re-entered after pitching the first four innings, earning a save and earning MSU its first SEC series win of the season.
“It creates so much momentum for us,” first baseman Paige Ernstes said of the play. Her solo home run got the Bulldogs rolling on the night, followed by RBI hits from Anna Carder, Xiane Romero and Nadia Barbary.
“Credit to the pitchers throughout, working their butts off for us, and the great defense,” she said. “We work on relay throws every day, so it’s second nature to us.”
“I’m just proud of the fight and toughness that it takes to fall behind after losing Game 1 in the series and bouncing back the way we did,” MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “I love the way they came together and how they just really zeroed in on bringing the energy and controlling it a little bit more out of our dugout and focusing on what we were doing and getting back to playing Mississippi State softball. I love the response. I love that we’re seeing different people come through in moments where we need them when they get their opportunities. It’s going to take everyone as we continue through this SEC slate we have.”
It took everything the Bulldogs had, but it was worth it to take the first SEC series of the season against No. 23 South Carolina. The Bulldogs (32-7, 4-5 SEC) dropped the Saturday game 2-0, another matchup of strong pitching with little to show on offense. It took another battle on Sunday, a tight 2-0 win, to set up the Monday rubber match, but the team’s fight carried them through.
“It’s always important in this conference, every weekend is huge,” Ricketts said. “Knowing that you’re constantly facing a great team, a postseason-type team, and we can’t take anything for granted. I think we continue to learn some lessons, that’s something we talk a lot about week after week. What did we learn from each series, and I think we learned how to bounce back and what we need to do from Game One.”
MSU’s offense has struggled to score at the same rate in SEC play, but the quality of pitching has been enough to balance it out and force close games. On Monday, with all three Bulldog starters seeing action, it took a play at the plate and a long-awaited breakthrough on offense to get MSU over the line.
“I told myself, I need to do something for my team,” Romero recounted of her two-run hit. “I took the marginal pitches and then swung it on there.”
“We knew that we could do it,” Ernstes said. “It felt pretty good to get going in that direction and just taste what we’ve been getting at.”
MSU will go back on the road this week for a series in Gainesville against No. 3 Florida, then return home for a series against No. 10 Arkansas next week.
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