Softball Starts Final 2015 Home Stand vs. South Alabama
April 14, 2015 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – With the regular season winding down, Mississippi State (31-12) will host No. 22 South Alabama (31-7) at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday with the game to air nationally on the SEC Network from the MSU Softball Field.
FOLLOW LIVE
Wednesday night's contest will air before a national television audience on the SEC Network as Melissa Lee and Kayla Braud will have the call. The game can also be seen through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.
TICKET INFORMATION
Admission to all games at the MSU Softball Stadium is free and open to the public.
PROMOTIONS
It will be 90's Night at the park with the first 150 fans in attendance to receive an MSU Softball Yo-Yo. Greek Night will be another promotion on Wednesday as every Greek member in attendance will receive a shirt and the chapter with the biggest attendance, by percentage, will be recognized at a 2015 Bulldog football game. Wednesday will also be the annual softball hunt. Students can find a softball in The Junction on Wednesday morning and bring it to the game at 8pm to claim their prize. Prizes include: Anthony Dixon signed helmet, John Cohen signed baseball, Vic Schaefer signed basketball, t-shirts, gift cards, and more
LAST TIME OUT
State is coming off a four-game stretch in which it went 2-2 vs. ranked teams, including wins over No. 1 LSU and No. 21 Mizzou. The Bulldogs were most recently in Columbia, Mo. for a three-game Southeastern Conference weekend set with the Tigers, where they dropped two of three vs. the No. 9 team in RPI.
TEAM & PLAYER NOTES
· The Bulldogs have 14 come-from-behind wins in 2015 and 49 in the Vann Stuedeman era.
· State is a perfect 17-0 when scoring first this season and 22-3 in non-conference play.
· MSU is 30-6 when scoring three or more runs and 27-6 when holding opponents to five or fewer runs. State is 7-8 vs. ranked opponents this season.
· With 10 regular-season games remaining in 2015, MSU has already broken its 2014 totals for home runs (41) and triples (12) and is on the cusp of surpassing its hits, doubles and RBI totals.
· The Bulldogs rank fifth in the Southeastern Conference in batting average (.323), fourth in hits (374), second in doubles (66), fourth in triples (12) and tied for first in double plays (18).
· In the most recent NCAA RPI rankings, April 13, State fell one spot to No. 23, despite coming off of a four-game stretch in which it went 2-2 vs. teams in the top 9 in RPI.
· MSU is 7-8 vs. teams with RPIs in the top 25 this season and have three wins over teams in the top eight. The next four games for the Bulldogs are vs. top 30 teams (one vs. No. 30 South Alabama and three vs. No. 12 Tennessee)
· Senior Julia Echols went 5-for-5 on Saturday, April 11, at Mizzou, tying a program record for hits in a game. The record was initially set in 1998 by Shawna Feldt at Georgia Tech.
· Sophomore Alexis Silkwood, who won two-straight SEC Pitcher of the Week honors (March 30 & April 6), ranks second in the conference in batters struck out (172), first in wins (22), first in innings pitched (176.0) and tied for fourth in saves (2). Silkwood's 22 wins is also fourth in all of Division I.
· Sophomore Katie Anne Bailey ranks tied for second in the league in triples (6) and leads the league in runners caught stealing (13).
· Sophomore Caroline Seitz ranks third in the SEC in doubles (13), 13th in home runs home runs (11) and 12th in RBI (42), she also leads the team in all three categories.
· Sophomore Amanda Ivy has reached base safely in a team-high 25-straight games and Echols has reached in 21 straight.
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
South Alabama has won its last 10 games and 15 of its last 16 games with the sole loss having come to No. 1 LSU, 8-0 in five innings, in Baton Rouge. The Jaguars are second in the Sun Belt conference standings with their 14-3 mark, trailing only a 15-3 UL Lafayette club. USA has had three of its pitchers combine for three Sun Belt Player of the Week honors in 2015, with one of those pitchers also having captured one Sun Belt Player of the Week award.
ON DECK FOR THE BULLDOGS
State will welcome No. 12 Tennessee for a three-game weekend set for Super Bulldog Weekend. The action will begin on Friday, April 17 at 5:30 p.m. CT.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on the MSU softball program, follow "HailStateSB" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can also find all-access coverage of the Bulldogs on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."
