BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Aquana Brownlee was one of Mississippi State’s best hitters last season, but the Bulldogs’ roster depth has forced her to take on a diminished role in recent weeks.
After playing a part-time role over her first three years in Starkville, Brownlee was second on the team in 2023 with a .310 batting average, eight home runs and 35 runs batted in.
She started nine of MSU’s first 10 games this year, but the emergence of freshman Kylee Edwards at shortstop pushed Madisyn Kennedy over to first base, and Kennedy’s hot bat mandated a spot in the batting order. Brownlee, thus, became the odd one out, going just 3-for-14 in the month of March.
“The bench has always been a main part of the team,” Brownlee said. “It’s like the 10th person on the field. It’s a part of playing the game now. We don’t look at it as a reserve spot.”
But in Wednesday evening’s midweek game at Alabama-Birmingham, the No. 16 Bulldogs jumped out to a big early lead that allowed head coach Samantha Ricketts to almost completely empty her bench. Brownlee pinch-hit for Jessie Blaine in the third inning with MSU already leading by 12, and she hit her first home run of the season on a fly ball to right-center field that hit the top of the fence and bounced over.
The blast completed the scoring in a 14-0, five-inning victory.
“It just felt good going back to my old self and knowing what I’m capable of and doing,” Brownlee said. “I’ve been making the best of it and cheering on my teammates, but I’ve been working hard behind the scenes trying to get back to where I was. I didn’t become complacent.”
Brownlee was one of nine position players to have an at-bat without starting the game for MSU. The reserves have begun calling themselves the “Bench Mobb” during games — the name comes from the 2013 Bulldogs baseball team that reached the national championship series — and frequently display props such as plastic swords in the dugout to support their teammates.
The “Bench Mobb” had plenty to cheer about early in the game. Sierra Sacco bunted for a hit to lead off the first inning and Nadia Barbary followed with another single. Kennedy, coming off a huge month of March in which she hit 10 homers and drove in 34 runs, started April in similar fashion with a three-run shot well over the wall in left. MSU (26-9) added two more in the opening inning on a single by freshman Salen Hawkins.
“It was a good bounce-back after game three of the Florida series,” Ricketts said. “They just really came out ready to attack and not being worried about carrying anything with them, which was good to see.”
The Bulldogs scored four more runs in the second on key hits from Paige Cook, Blaine and Edwards, and by the third, it was time for Ricketts to start substituting. Riley Hull and Jadyn Burney, who both stayed in the game after entering as pinch-runners in the second, each singled in a run in the third ahead of Brownlee’s homer.
Another reserve, Saleyna Daniel, led off the fourth with a double. Kat Wallace, Kiara Sells, Morgan Bernardini, Megan Davidson and Gabby Coffey were all used as pinch-hitters, although none of them hit safely.
Aspen Wesley, Matalasi Faapito and Delainey Everett combined on a three-hit shutout and none of them issued a walk.
“Everybody in that dugout works hard every day,” Ricketts said. “They’re not all getting the same opportunities, so it’s always fun when you can get them out there and make sure they’re ready for the opportunity, and I think every one of them (was).”
MSU returns to Southeastern Conference play Friday for the start of a three-game series at No. 22 South Carolina. The Gamecocks, led by Stanford transfer Alana Vawter, have the second-best team ERA in the SEC at 1.67, so playing time for the “Bench Mobb” may be hard to come by. But Ricketts and the Bulldogs’ coaches nonetheless recognize how important the reserves are in whatever roles they fill.
“Knowing the quality pitching we’re going to see from South Carolina, (we’re) trying to have as many of our offensive weapons in as we can,” Ricketts said. “They all do a great job, whether they’re hitting for somebody at the bottom of the lineup, they’re ready to go. They’re going to be their biggest cheerleaders when they’re in their spot in the batting order.”
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