STARKVILLE — One swing of the bat can change everything and Matalasi Faapito did just that in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Down 3-2, Faapito found a pitch to drive and hit one out in the process, a go-ahead, two-run homer as the Bulldogs went up 4-3, needing just three outs to salvage a win over the weekend.
In the seventh, one pitch changed everything with Kenley Hawk on the mound, giving the lead, game and a series sweep right back to the Razorbacks as Raigan Kramer two-run homer secured a 5-4 win on Sunday.
“I was glad to see some fight out of the lineup,” Mississippi State head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “I thought offensively, that’s what we’ve been looking for the past few weeks. I think there are some bright spots, but when you’re playing a top-10 team like that, you can’t make mistakes.”
Mistakes hurt the Bulldogs (23-13, 3-5, SEC) in Friday’s series opener against the Razorbacks and it came back to bite them on Sunday.
Starter Aspen Wesley ran into trouble in the top of the fourth inning, with two singles and two errors, plus a safety squeeze gave Arkansas (27-9, 8-4 SEC) a 3-0 lead.
Mississippi State wasted no time coming back as Aquana Brownlee launched a two-run homer over the left-field scoreboard in the bottom-half of the frame, leading to Faapito’s go-ahead blast in the sixth.
“Every single time I go up to bat, I want to hit a home run,” Faapito said. “I just knew, watching her pitch yesterday, that I had to get her. The outcome was what I wanted… knew all weekend that they were throwing me inside, so I was like, ‘I can’t get beat again.’”
After a strong 3-0 start to Southeastern Conference play, an opening series sweep of South Carolina, the Bulldogs have lost five-straight conference games.
Mississippi State was within striking distance in two of the three games over the weekend, but ended up falling short in last-stitch efforts.
“This series was definitely a learning lesson for us,” Faapito said. “It doesn’t feel good, but we just have to turn the page and push forward for next weekend. It’s good that we lose. We learn from things, learn from our mistakes and work for each other.”
The Bulldogs weren’t cheated out of at-bats on Sunday, lining pitches and getting hard contact, but Arkansas seemingly was perfectly placed every time.
As has already been the case since the start of conference play, the SEC does no favors when it comes to off weeks.
Next week, Mississippi State heads to College Station to take on Texas A&M, and following the late charge against the Razorbacks in the loss, the Bulldogs are hoping good things come their way.
“It was good to see some fight,” Ricketts said. “To me, it shows that we still have some fight in us the rest of the year. That’s kind of the message. We’re not even halfway through the SEC right now. We have to continue to fight and show up for each other…We embrace the challenge and that’s why everyone chose to be here.”
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