For as well as Mississippi State has played at times this season, the Bulldogs still have not won a Southeastern Conference series at home.
MSU drew an extremely challenging home slate, losing two out of three to Texas A&M, Florida and Tennessee, and it will not get any easier with No. 14 Georgia visiting Nusz Park this weekend to conclude the regular season.
UGA (37-13, 11-10 SEC) is one game ahead of MSU in the conference standings, and playing at the hitter-friendly Jack Turner Stadium, Georgia leads the SEC with 78 home runs. Jayda Kearney and Sara Mosley are responsible for 17 and 16 of those long balls, respectively, and Sydney Kuma also has an OPS better than 1.000. Dallis Goodnight, Ellie Armistead and Jaiden Fields round out one of the SEC’s deepest lineups.
Lilli Backes (15-5, 2.48 ERA in 132 2/3 IP) is the biggest workhorse in the circle for UGA, but Madison Kerpics (11-2, 2.73 ERA, 66 2/3 IP) and Shelby Walters (8-6, 3.29 ERA, 93 2/3 IP) have also put in quality work. Georgia does not strike out many batters, and keeping the ball in the yard has been an issue at times.
Here are three keys to victory for MSU (31-16, 10-11) as State looks to get back into contention to potentially host an NCAA regional.
Get out in front early
MSU’s offense was ice-cold for most of the last two weeks — outside of a 16-1 win over lowly Memphis, State had scored just seven runs in six games, all losses. On the verge of being shut out again Monday night at Missouri, MSU came to life just in time with three runs in the seventh to rally for the win. Whether that outburst can turn things back around remains to be seen, but head coach Samantha Ricketts would surely like the bats to get going the first or second time through the order, especially against an offense as strong as Georgia’s.
Get Josey Marron going again
After a complete-game shutout at South Carolina on Apr. 5, the sophomore right-hander’s ERA was 2.65. In five outings since then, Marron has given up 16 earned runs in 24 ⅓ innings, raising that ERA to 3.11. She has given up four home runs in that stretch, a worrisome sign for a drop ball pitcher getting ready to face a lineup that is fifth in all of college softball in home runs per game.
Don’t let the moment get too big
MSU was not worried about the outside noise early in the season, instead playing only to prove itself right, and is now a lock to make the NCAA Tournament after missing out last year. But after surging into the mix for a top-16 national seed, State began pressing at times, especially at the plate. The veterans in the middle of the lineup and the youngsters toward the bottom of the order will need to stay within themselves to help give MSU some momentum going into the postseason.
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