STARKVILLE — Samantha Ricketts said after Mississippi State’s win Friday that sweeping a series is the hardest thing to do in the Southeastern Conference. The next evening, Ole Miss proved the Bulldogs’ head coach right.
MSU ace Raelin Chaffin was far from her usual dominant self, laboring through three innings of work and allowing four earned runs. Meanwhile, the No. 18 Bulldogs’ offense managed just one hit over the last three innings as the No. 17 Rebels salvaged the series and regular-season finale with a 6-4 win at Nusz Park.
“Definitely not (Chaffin’s) best outing, but we’re going to go to her every time, time and time again. She’s earned that right,” Ricketts said. “It’s tough in this league. After her throwing the first two days, there’s no surprises. It’s just (about) finding ways to keep them off balance.”
After Chaffin pitched into and out of trouble in the top of the first, MSU (37-16, 13-11 SEC) struck right away in the bottom half when Sierra Sacco hit her 11th home run of the year on the first pitch she saw from Ole Miss starter Brianna Lopez. Nadia Barbary then drew a walk and came around to score on Jessie Blaine’s RBI single up the middle.
Both Sacco and Blaine had two hits on their Senior Day. Sacco and Chaffin will remain teammates this summer, as both were drafted by the Talons of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League on Saturday night.
But Chaffin was uncharacteristically wild in the second, walking three batters and hitting another with a pitch. The Rebels (35-16, 11-13) tied the game on a pair of sacrifice flies, then took the lead on Mackenzie Pickens’ two-run homer in the third. Chaffin’s day was done after three innings and 87 pitches.
“(Ole Miss) really did a great job. They were aggressive, they were attacking, they were taking walks,” Ricketts said. “They’re a good team. There’s a reason they’ve been ranked all season long. It’s just another good example of an SEC battle and why this conference is the deepest in the country.”
Delainey Everett relieved Chaffin in the fourth, but the Rebels jumped on her as well, with Lair Beautae hitting a leadoff single and Aliyah Binford extending the visitors’ lead to four with a two-run shot.
Everett settled down after that despite not striking out a batter, holding Ole Miss scoreless the rest of the way thanks to some help from her defense, which trapped Lexie Brady in a rundown between third and home after a Pickens single in the sixth.
The Bulldogs chipped away in the bottom of the fourth when Blaine led off with a hit and pinch-runner Kalani Sells scored on Morgan Bernardini’s RBI single. Sacco drove in another run with a sacrifice fly to left, but after that, freshman Miali Guachino retired eight batters in a row before Sacco’s infield single with one out in the seventh. Barbary then hit a line drive back to Guachino, who doubled off Sacco at first base to end the game.
“We just ran out of outs,” Blaine said. “They’re a good program, a good team with a lot of experienced talent, and it’s hard to beat a team like that three times in a row.”
MSU will be the No. 8 seed in the SEC Tournament, hosted by Georgia, and will play No. 9 seed LSU in the second round Wednesday at 10 a.m. Central Time. If the Bulldogs win, they will play top-seeded Oklahoma at the same time Thursday in the quarterfinals.
“We’re excited for the opportunity. It’s the best time of the year,” Ricketts said. “The SEC Tournament, it’s a tune-up for the World Series. ESPN puts the same amount of production into it as they do Oklahoma City. It’s a good chance to give our young players that feeling of (the) postseason, the pressure, the nerves, the excitement.”
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