Samantha Ricketts and her players have repeated the line to the point where it has almost lost its meaning: “Prove ourselves right.”
It hasn’t taken long for Mississippi State to change the outside perception of what these 2024 Bulldogs are and can be. After being the only Southeastern Conference team left out of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, MSU was picked to finished last this season by the conference’s head coaches, but heading into their first SEC series this weekend at rival Ole Miss, the Bulldogs are 17-3, ranked in every national poll and have four ranked wins under their belts.
MSU has started strong before in non-conference play under Ricketts — in her first year as head coach in 2020, the Bulldogs were 25-3 before the season was abruptly halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, MSU grabbed early wins over Arizona and South Florida that looked good at the time, but lost some of their luster as the Wildcats and Bulls struggled later in the season.
Determined to make a return to the postseason, Ricketts added three impact transfers to join a freshman class ranked 10th nationally by Extra Inning Softball, and as the Bulldogs transition into SEC play, it’s been returners and newcomers alike lifting them back into the national conversation.
Lineup offers pitching staffs no breaks
MSU’s offense may start with Louisiana Tech transfer Sierra Sacco, the Bulldogs’ new speedy slap-hitting center fielder, but Ricketts has plenty of run producers in the middle of the order, and the bottom of the lineup has been nearly as productive.
Sophomore Nadia Barbary, the typical No. 2 hitter, has added more than 100 points to her batting average and more than 200 points to her on-base percentage from a year ago. Fifth-year Paige Cook has been as reliable as ever in the No. 3 hole, and Auburn transfer Jessie Blaine, in the cleanup spot, already has five home runs and 21 runs driven in. Another fifth-year, Madisyn Kennedy, is having the best season of her career so far with a 1.318 OPS.
Freshmen Salen Hawkins, Ella Wesolowski and Kylee Edwards have been consistent hitters as well with occasional power, and although MSU’s stats are somewhat beefed up due to the non-conference schedule, the Bulldogs have played and beaten some quality teams.
They swept Louisiana in a doubleheader on Feb. 13 and beat two top-15 teams in Clemson and Utah on the same day in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on Feb. 17. Through 20 games, MSU is second in the SEC in team batting average, on-base percentage and walks, and every regular starter is hitting .325 or better.
Not all of these numbers will be sustainable considering the Bulldogs will face such top pitchers as South Carolina’s Alana Vawter, Tennessee’s Karlyn Pickens and Florida’s Keagan Rothrock in conference play. But after MSU finished with the worst team batting average and on-base percentage in the conference last year, there is a lot to be excited about with this offense.
New pitching coach, better pitching
With most of the same personnel, the Bulldogs’ pitchers have all been reliable and occasionally dominant through the first four weeks of the season. Pitching coach Taryne Mowatt-McKinney brought a sterling reputation over from Arizona, and she has helped fifth-year Aspen Wesley to her best year yet so far, including complete-game wins against Louisiana and Clemson.
Josey Marron has benefited from Mowatt-McKinney’s tutelage as well, following up on an excellent freshman season with an even better sophomore year. She also earned a complete-game win against the Ragin’ Cajuns — a team that just ended Oklahoma’s record 71-game winning streak on Sunday — and also turned in strong outings in victories over Utah and Cal State Fullerton.
UCLA transfer Lexi Sosa, who pitched just 48 ⅔ innings over three years with the powerhouse Bruins and did not compete in 2023, now has an 0.91 ERA in 23 innings with MSU. Her best performance came at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic against Notre Dame, when she tossed five scoreless innings against a perennial NCAA Tournament team. Fifth-year Matalasi Faapito and freshman Delaney Everett have also pitched well in limited work.
As a whole, MSU’s pitchers are third in the SEC with a 1.57 team ERA, and the Bulldogs have issued the fewest walks in the conference.
With four teams in the top 10 in the latest RPI (a metric that ranks all 307 Division I teams with a heavy emphasis on strength of schedule) and eight in the top 25, the SEC looks like the strongest conference in the country this season yet again, so the Bulldogs’ arms will be challenged plenty before much longer.
MSU is at No. 27 in the RPI, and while it’s too early for that to mean much, the ranking puts the Bulldogs in good shape to get back to the NCAA Tournament, and it could well hold steady or even improve as their schedule difficulty increases.
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