Mississippi State’s softball team’s SEC losing streak grew to three straight series over the weekend as it dropped all three games at No. 12 Texas A&M.
The host Aggies (34-12, 14-4) used two solo home runs and a run-scoring wild pitch to grab Game 1 of the series, 3-1, over the No. 14 Bulldogs (34-14, 6-12). Des Rivera singled in the fifth to give MSU its only run as the unit was limited to just four hits. Peja Goold (14-8) was dealt the loss after three innings of work that featured four hits, three earned runs, three walks and one strikeout. Delainey Everett closed the contest with four no-hit innings, walking one.
In Game 2, the Bulldogs and Aggies both landed four hits but a flurry of nine walks and two hit batters by starting MSU pitcher Alyssa Faircloth proved to be the difference in the Aggies’ 4-0 win.
Faircloth’s mistakes helped the Aggies plate three runs in the second inning, which was halted about midway though for 30 minutes due to pouring rain. A&M’s Micaela Wark added a sac fly in the sixth to score the game’s final run.
“I mean, it’s unfortunate, head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “It’s unfortunate that we have to pitch in rain and they don’t but you know it can’t be an excuse. The biggest thing is just making sure we’re staying together and trusting the work we put in and the approaches that we’ve taken recently, knowing that it’s all going to come together at some point for us.”
Even after plating six runs in the first inning of Game 3, an explosion of nine runs in the second inning by A&M left the Bulldogs playing catch up in a 10-9 loss.
A bases-loaded walk and hit by pitch gave MSU its first two runs of the day before Xiane Romero smacked a grand slam to put the Bulldogs on top early. The Aggies didn’t budge and responded with an even bigger inning of nine runs that included two home runs, two RBI singles and a bases-loaded walk.
A&M’s Paisley Allen added an RBI single in the fourth inning for a 10-6 lead that MSU closed in the seventh with three runs, but fell short of the comeback.
“We’d been struggling to score first or score early, so it was good to see us get out to an early lead, put up runs early,” Ricketts said. “And, you know, I like the fight to finish late, but we didn’t make the adjustment soon enough off of a really good pitcher that they had. It’s just going to be about staying together and finding a way to get back on track here quickly.”
The Bulldogs are back in Starkville to host No. 22 LSU this weekend.
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