STARKVILLE — The pitching machines at Mississippi State’s practices this week were cranked up to the maximum velocity.
The Bulldogs knew they would be facing Tennessee flamethrower Karlyn Pickens this weekend, a sophomore who sits comfortably in the low-to-mid 70s with her fastball. They prepared themselves all week for one of the hardest throwers in all of college softball, and it paid off in a big way Friday night at Nusz Park.
No. 16 MSU chased Pickens from the game before she recorded an out in the third inning and continued to pile on against the No. 4 Volunteers’ bullpen, run-ruling the Southeastern Conference leaders 9-1 in five innings to kick off the three-game series.
“The coaches did a really great job of programming those machines,” freshman second baseman Salen Hawkins said. “It made it just like batting practice when we went up against her.”
Tennessee (30-7, 10-3 SEC) plated a run in the first against Aspen Wesley when superstar Kiki Milloy walked, moved up on two groundouts and scored on an infield single by Rylie West. But Wesley held the Volunteers scoreless the rest of the way, thanks in large part to her defense, and the Bulldogs (29-10, 9-7) responded immediately against Pickens.
Sierra Sacco walked to lead off the first inning and scored all the way from first on Nadia Barbary’s double down the left field line. MSU took the lead for good in the second, using three straight singles — the last one coming from Sacco — to go out in front. The Bulldogs added two more in the inning on a wild pitch and a Madisyn Kennedy sacrifice fly.
“We knew Pickens was going to be a good pitcher,” Sacco said. “It was just about timing her up and getting on time early, and then adjusting our plan as the game went on.”
Ella Wesolowski’s leadoff double in the third marked the end of the line for Pickens, who allowed a season-high five runs in two-plus innings. Kylee Edwards extended the lead with a two-run double before coming around to score on a throwing error to make it 7-1.
Meanwhile, MSU was making sparkling defensive plays all over the field. Sacco ran down a long fly ball in deep right-center to start the second, and left fielder Brylie St. Clair made a diving catch on a shallow fly ball to end that inning.
With a runner at first and one out in the third, Hawkins dove to her right to stop a hard-hit grounder ticketed for center field, then flipped the ball with her glove to Edwards at shortstop, who nabbed it with her bare hand for the force and then threw to first to nearly complete a double play.
“They were just so good all night long. It’s what we see in practice,” head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “We know how good we are defensively. Athlete after athlete all around that field, really fun to see them all have their moment and go out and try to do whatever they can to make a play for their pitcher. It was fun to see, especially those freshmen up the middle, they’re just getting better and more confident.”
Edwards drove in her third run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the fourth, and the Bulldogs wrapped things up early in the fifth on a leadoff walk, a single by Sacco and a passed ball that scored St. Clair for the game-ending run.
The victory provided a big boost for MSU’s chances to host an NCAA regional for the first time in program history — the Bulldogs entered the weekend at No. 20 in the RPI, probably on the outside looking in at the moment but definitely in contention for a top-16 national seed with a month to go until Selection Sunday.
“We do talk about it. We don’t really shy away from the honest conversations, and it was a conversation this week,” Ricketts said. “All of our goals are still right in front of us and we control our own destiny.”
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