Mississippi State softball improved to 15-1 on the season with another road victory and another impressive performance at the plate. The Bulldogs stopped in Atlanta for a true road game at Georgia Tech on Wednesday, adding a midweek test on the way to Clemson, S.C., for the Tiger Invitational. They were able to set the pace offensively in a back-and-forth contest before taking control in the final inning of an 8-3 victory.
Des Rivera, Nadia Barbary, Kiara Sells and Morgan Bernardini all registered home runs in a nine-hit team performance.
In the circle, MSU starter Alyssa Faircloth remained unbeaten, picking up her sixth win of the season, and Peja Goold came in to record her second save.
Faircloth tossed 5.1 innings, allowing five hits and two runs while striking out 11 of the 21 batters she faced. Goold allowed another run in the seventh, but by then the Bulldogs had a comfortable lead in the contest.
Faircloth’s ace work came after giving up an early home run, but she locked in to strike out eight batters on her second run through the Georgia Tech lineup. It was her fourth career double-digit strikeout game, and third of the season, as she improved to 6-0.
“I think all her pitches were working, and when she’s really able to mix and throw different speeds, use all her pitches, attack different quadrants of the zone, she’s a tough matchup,” MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts said of Faircloth. “ I love her presence, I love her confidence out there and how she just continued to go right at them with certain pitches.”
The Bulldogs will have an early start on Friday as they begin round-robin play at Clemson. They’ll take on Wofford at 9 a.m. to start the weekend, followed by a Saturday doubleheader against Georgia Southern and No. 25 Clemson. A fourth game is scheduled for Sunday, with opponent and time still to be decided.
The Tigers will be the first ranked team MSU faces this season, and the third true road game of 2026. The trip is part of a two-week stretch playing away from home. Along with the Getterman Classic to start the season in Waco, it’s a difficult approach to nonconference play, but that is by design.
“We knew going into this week that we had some good true road challenges and something that is going to help prepare us for SEC play on the road, so it was just being ready and taking it one game at a time throughout this five-game stretch,” Ricketts said. “Knowing that, you know, we’ve got to continue to play Mississippi State softball and not let who we’re playing affect it and bring our game to each and every one of them.”
Following the Tiger Invitational, MSU has another week of games in Alabama at UAB and then the Jaguar Classic at South Alabama. The Bulldogs will return to Starkville for a homestand at Nusz Park, beginning with a midweek doubleheader against Southeast Missouri on March 10 and the opening series of SEC play against No. 1 Tennessee the weekend of March 13-15.
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