Following a sweep at Oklahoma in which Mississippi State surrendered a four-run lead in both games of Sunday’s doubleheader, the No. 17 Bulldogs remain on the road for the penultimate weekend of the regular season, opening a three-game series at Kentucky on Friday evening.
MSU (33-14, 9-9 Southeastern Conference) lost its ace, Raelin Chaffin, to a shoulder injury Sunday in Norman, and her status is uncertain for this weekend and beyond. If Chaffin remains unavailable, the Bulldogs will need to rely on Delainey Everett and Lexi Sosa to eat up more innings than usual, and Josey Marron will need to recapture her underclassman form and figure out the command issues that have plagued her throughout the season.
The Wildcats (28-20, 6-12) might be the ideal opponent for an MSU team without its best pitcher. Kentucky has scored the fewest runs in the SEC in conference play and just got swept last weekend at South Carolina, getting outscored 22-1 in three losses. After sweeping Missouri to open SEC play, the Wildcats won a series against Ole Miss in late March but have lost eight of their last nine conference games.
Rachel Lawson has been Kentucky’s head coach since 2008, and the Wildcats have reached the NCAA Tournament every year since 2009, including eight super regionals and the 2014 Women’s College World Series. But Kentucky failed to even advance to the regional final each of the last two years, and is on its way to a third straight finish in the bottom half of the SEC standings.
This year, Kentucky challenged itself early in the non-conference season, playing at the NFCA Leadoff Classic and the ESPN Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational. The Wildcats’ opponents included Duke, Virginia, Clemson, Oklahoma State and UCLA, though Clemson was their only win among that group. Kentucky does have two wins at Georgia Tech that have aged well, with just one bad loss against Evansville.
The lineup is led by Peyton Plotts and her 1.095 OPS, with Allie Blum and Ally Hutchins also hitting above .300 and providing some power. Cassie Reasner and Lauryn Borzilleri have been solid everyday players as well, but a lot of the Wildcats’ numbers were beefed up in non-conference play.
Kentucky uses a pitch-by-committee approach with its staff — no Wildcat has pitched more than Sarah Haendiges’ 83 innings, but all five pitchers have at least 48 innings under their belts. Haendiges (2.28 ERA) and veteran Alexia Lacatena (2.50) have been the strongest arms, but Haendiges has started in just seven of her 29 appearances, with Carson Fall leading the team in games started in the circle.
Beyond the pitching staff limiting big innings and figuring out a winning formula if Chaffin is out, the Bulldogs’ offense will need to jump on Kentucky’s pitchers the first time it faces them. MSU was shut out by Sooners ace Sam Landry in last Friday’s series opener but scored six runs against her two days later. The Wildcats don’t have a pitcher as good as Landry, so the Bulldogs will have to make adjustments more quickly.
Sierra Sacco has remained red hot at the plate, homering in both games of Sunday’s doubleheader, while Jessie Blaine and Ella Wesolowski also went deep in the finale. MSU’s lineup has thus far avoided the late-season drop-off it experienced last season, and with the Bulldogs entering the weekend ranked 22nd in the RPI, they will need to out-slug teams down the stretch to maintain their hopes of hosting an NCAA regional.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
