STARKVILLE — Coming off a thrilling 10-inning walk-off win over South Carolina on Friday night, Mississippi State softball was in the driver’s seat for a series win.
Behind starter Aspen Wesley, the right pieces were in place to do just that, starting off Southeastern Conference play in the right way with a 4-1 win on Saturday.
However, both teams couldn’t get on the board offensively through three innings. Something needed to give, and senior Paige Cook was the player to do it.
“We knew what she had,” Cook said. “We just had to trust our plan a little bit more. She got behind in the count and I had a feeling that she was going to throw me something that was in the strike zone, so I took advantage of it.”
Cook launched a two-run homer over the center field wall at Nusz Park, giving the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. Mississippi State tacked on two more, but with the senior Wesley dealing in the circle, the Bulldogs secured a series win to begin SEC play.
“She threw a great game,” Mississippi State head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “She came out and stayed in control the entire game. She was attacking the zone, going right at the hitters, did just a great job mixing and was calm and collected and gave us a chance to get the offense going there.”
Saturday was a special day for Wesley, one that had been in the works for some time as the Bulldogs (21-8, 2-0 SEC) celebrated Native American Heritage Day in Starkville.
The senior, a member of the Choctaw nation, showed out with a complete game performance, giving up one run and four hits while striking out seven, one away from tying a season-high.
“I knew this day was coming,” Wesley said. “I was looking forward to this day since I was told this was going to happen. Today, I was in the bullpen and those little kids were watching in the back and I’m like ‘Oh, that’s crazy. That was me when I was younger.’ I wanted to put on a great attitude for them.”
Wesley stifled South Carolina (23-6, 1-4 SEC) hitters, needing just 89 pitches to do so as she lowered her season ERA by half a run over the course of Saturday’s win.
Friday night’s win was an emotionally-charged one for Mississippi State, and that helped fuel momentum into Saturday to keep things rolling.
“I think [Friday] definitely had them fired up,” Ricketts said. “They wanted to come out and prove it to themselves again. They’ve been really great, I think this past week especially, about having each other’s backs and being supportive and team wins. It’s good to see that show up in all facets for us.”
The win was the Bulldogs’ third-straight after dropping Tuesday’s midweek game against North Dakota State, and taking an SEC series off the bat was big for Mississippi State.
A fourth-straight win and series sweep of South Carolina is now there for the taking come noon Sunday.
“We’re definitely fired up and we’re expecting to have a lot of good things coming out of this season,” Cook said.
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