MSU Heads East For Series At No. 1 Florida
April 21, 2016 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – With less than a month remaining in the 2016 regular season, the Mississippi State softball team (24-20, 3-12 SEC) continues its gauntlet of a schedule this weekend at No. 1 Florida (42-3, 12-3 SEC).
The three-game Southeastern Conference series opens Friday at 5 p.m. CT, while games two and three are set for noon Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday.
TICKETS
Admission is free for all three games this weekend at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
FOLLOW LIVE
Games one and two will air on SEC Network+, exclusively through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app, while game three will be televised nationally on SEC Network. Voice of State softball Anthony Craven will call the game on HailStatePLUS to provide fans with an additional way to follow the action. Live stats will also be available for all games and can be found at HailState.com.
Watch Friday's Game | Watch Saturday's Game | Watch Sunday's Game
LAST TIME OUT
State is coming off a 4-0 midweek win over Southern Miss that saw junior pitcher Alexis Silkwood toss a complete-game shutout Tuesday night at Nusz Park. Junior Katie Anne Bailey opened the scoring for the Bulldogs with a solo homer in the fourth, while junior Mackenzie Toler drove in two and Calyn Adams one for a three-run sixth.
TEAM & PLAYER NOTES
· State is in its 25th season of varsity softball. The Bulldogs also fielded squads from 1982-86. In the previous 19 season stretch, MSU has advanced to the NCAA Tournament 12 times, including seven of the last nine and four consecutive postseason events.
· MSU moved up five spots to No. 33 in this week's NCAA RPI rankings, while the SEC sits in first among conference RPIs.
· Nine of State's 11 remaining regular season games are against clubs with RPIs in the top 12, with six of those coming away from Starkville (three at No. 1 Florida, three vs. No. 12 Missouri, three at No. 11 Kentucky).
· Entering the week, the Bulldogs have played the ninth-toughest schedule in the nation with four of its five SEC series having been against 2015 Women's College World Series participants (Auburn, Tennessee, Alabama, LSU).
· The final three conference weekends for State include another WCWS participant and back-to-back national champion (Florida) and two 2015 Super Regional teams (Missouri and Kentucky).
· MSU ranks fourth in the SEC as a team for triples (11), while senior Kayla Winkfield is tied for first among individuals with five. Winkfield ranks 18th in the nation with 0.11 triples per game.
THE BULLDOGS VS. THE GATORS
Florida leads the all-time series 31-19 with a 16-8 advantage in Gainesville. The two sides last met in 2015 in Starkville for a three-game series the Gators took after taking Friday and Saturday. The Bulldogs took the Sunday finale in comeback fashion by scoring five in the bottom of the seventh after having entered the inning down 3-0. Then-sophomore, now-junior Caroline Seitz delivered the game winner with a three-run home run to give MSU the walk-off win.
ON DECK FOR MSU
State will play a pair of non-conference midweek games, starting Tuesday, April 26 against South Alabama at Nusz Park. First pitch is set for 6:04 p.m. with the matchup to air on SEC Network+.
GET SOCIAL WITH STATE
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.”
