Softball Closes Regular Season SEC Play At No. 12 Kentucky
May 03, 2016 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – With 52 games in the books, the Mississippi State softball team (25-27, 3-18 SEC) sets its focus on a trip to No. 12 Kentucky (40-11, 14-7 SEC) for its final Southeastern Conference series of 2016.
The three-game series opens Friday at 5 p.m. CT, with games two and three set for 11 a.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.
TICKETS
Single-game tickets for games at John Cropp Stadium are $5 for adults, $2 for seniors (65+) and youth (6-18). Children ages five and under are admitted free of charge.
FOLLOW LIVE
Games two and three will air on SEC Network+, which can be viewed exclusively through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. Sunday's game three will also be a part of the SEC Network's Bases Loaded coverage which will cover all six SEC games being played on Sunday. Voice of State softball Anthony Craven will call the games on HailStatePLUS to provide fans with an additional way to follow the game. Live stats will also be available for all games and can be found at HailState.com.
Watch Saturday's Game | Watch Sunday's Game
TEAM & PLAYER NOTES
· MSU is No. 34 in this week's NCAA RPI rankings, while the SEC sits in first among conference RPIs.
· Entering the week, the Bulldogs have played the third-toughest schedule in the nation with five of its seven SEC series having been against 2015 Women's College World Series participants (Auburn, Tennessee, Alabama, LSU and back-to-back national champion Florida) and one against Super Regional team Missouri.
· State's final SEC series comes against another 2015 Super Regional team in Kentucky.
· MSU ranks fourth in the SEC as a team for triples (12), while senior Kayla Winkfield is tied for first among individuals with six. Winkfield's six triples rank eighth in the nation.
· Freshman Sarai Niu ranks first in the SEC and 11th in the nation in HBP per game with 0.40 as she has been plunked 19 times this season.
· Nusz Park, the new $6.4 million home for the Bulldogs is hosting the 2016 SEC Tournament which will begin Wednesday, May 11 and run through Saturday, May 14.
THE BULLDOGS VS. THE WILDCATS
State leads the all-time series 28-22, but UK holds the upper hand in games played in Lexington, 13-11. The two sides last met in the 2014 SEC Tournament with the Wildcats having won 4-3 in nine innings. This weekend marks the first time MSU and UK have met in Lexington since March 22-24, 2013.
ON DECK FOR MSU
Following this weekend, the Bulldogs will turn their attention to postseason play as State finds itself on the verge of the SEC Tournament which is being played at Nusz Park. The single-elimination, 12-team tournament opens Wednesday, May 11.
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.”
