No. 21 Bulldogs Welcome Central Arkansas for Midweek Clash

Wednesday, March 21

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

Central Arkansas

Off to its best start in program history, No. 21 Mississippi State welcomes Central Arkansas for a midweek battle at Nusz Park.

No. 21 Bulldogs Welcome Central Arkansas for Midweek Clash

March 20, 2018 | Softball

Game Notes Live Stats SEC Network

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Before opening its home Southeastern Conference slate this weekend, No. 21 Mississippi State softball (25-4, 2-1 SEC) welcomes the Bears of Central Arkansas (13-12, 4-2 Southland) to Nusz Park Wednesday night.

Nusz Park will make its 2018 debut on a national broadcast as Wednesday's midweek clash will be aired live on the SEC Network. Cara Capuano and Kayla Braud will have the call. The game will also be available for streaming via WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT.

The midweek contest is also a designated "No One Fights Alone" game as Bulldogs will wear teal uniforms to bring awareness to ovarian cancer, which freshman outfielder Alex Wilcox has battled since her junior year of high school. This Wednesday, the first                 100 fans at Nusz Park will receive a teal t-shirt to join the Bulldogs and support Wilcox in her battle.

Wednesday is the seventh meeting between the two programs as MSU leads the all-time series 5-1. The two clubs met three times over the 2017 season with MSU sweeping all three games to outscore the Bears, 13-2.

State is coming off a 4-1 showing last week, earning midweek victories on the road at Samford and Memphis before opening the SEC slate at Missouri. The Bulldogs took two games over the Tigers to earn the program's first series win over SEC opening weekend since the 2011 season. The Bulldogs have won 13 of their last 14 games.

Through the first six weeks of the season, pitching continues to be a major key in State's success as the Bulldog staff has tossed 11 shutouts to hold a dominating 1.19 earned run average in the circle, which is good for fourth in the SEC and eighth in all of Division I softball.

Picking up two wins against Missouri, including a 4-0 shutout, senior Holly Ward anchors the staff with a 0.73 ERA, ranking fifth in the conference. Ward has notched 10 wins and ranks second in the SEC with three saves. The right-hander ranks seventh in the conference with 87 strikeouts this season.

On the offensive side of the ball, freshman Mia Davidson continues to be the breakout star for the Bulldogs. Davidson is the only Bulldog this season to record 20 or more runs scored, RBIs and hits. With 10 home runs this season, she has slugged the third-most homers by a Bulldog freshman in program history and ranks eighth on the MSU single-season charts. Davidson also ranks in the top 10 in the conference in 11 offensive categories.

Senior Morgan Bell has driven in 18 RBIs over MSU's last 10 games, with help of two grand slams. Bell is tied with Davidson for the team lead with 29 RBIs this season.

LAST TIME OUT
MSU opened SEC play with a series win over Missouri in Columbia, marking the first time in program history that the Bulldogs have earned a series victory over Mizzou. The series victory also marked the first time since the 2011 season that the Bulldogs have opened conference play with a series win.

Friday, March 16
No. 20 Mississippi State def. Missouri, 7-1 (Recap, Box Score)

Saturday, March 17
Missouri def. No 20 Mississippi State, 3-7 (Recap, Box Score)

Sunday, March 18
No. 20 Mississippi State def. Missouri, 6-3 (Recap, Box Score)

SERIES HISTORY
Against Central Arkansas
Overall: Mississippi State, 5-1
In Starkville: Mississippi State, 4-1
Last Meeting: Mississippi State def. Central Arkansas, 3-1 (March 15, 2017 in Conway, Ark.)

MSU IN THE POLLS
Four the fourth straight week, Mississippi State is enjoying a nationally ranking in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate TOP 25 rankings, stumbling one spot to No. 21 in the latest poll. The Bulldogs are also ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll for the second straight week, falling two spots to No. 23. Monday also saw the release of the first RPI rankings of the 2018 season as the Bulldogs entered the RPI at No. 18.

#VANNTASTIC START TO SEASON
With 25 wins over its first 29 games, Mississippi State is off to the program's best start in its 26-season history, surpassing the previous best mark of 23-6, which was set over the 2006 season.

OPENING WEEKEND SUCCESS
With its series victory over Missouri, Mississippi State opened conference play with a series victory for the first time under the Vann Stuedeman era and the first time since 2011 when the Bulldogs swept South Carolina in a shorten two-game series.

Holly Ward opened the series with a 4-0 shutout over the Tigers, which was MSU's first shutout to open conference play since blanking Arkansas, 5-0, to open the 2006 SEC slate.

SLUGGING TOWARDS SEASON RECORD
Just 29 games into her freshman season, Mia Davidson has already etched her name into the record books. Davidson slugged her 10th home run of the season against Missouri (3/18), which ties for eighth all-time with five other Bulldogs. Her 10 home runs are the most by any Bulldog since Caroline Seitz slugged 13 over the 2015 season. Her 10 home runs are also the third-most ever hit by a MSU freshman as Davidson ranks only behind Kelli Wilkerson (13, 1999) and Courtney Bures (17, 2005).

WARD UP
Holly Ward's impressive start to her senior season has moved her into the MSU career record book. Just 29 games into her senior season, Ward now ranks in six MSU career pitching categories.

T6th        Shutouts                                                    9
T6th        Solo No-Hitters                                      1
T6th        Opponent Batting Avg.                     .234
T7th        Saves                                                            6
8th          Strikeouts                                                 286
9th          Strikeouts per 7 inn.                           5.60

SHUTDOWN STAFF
MSU's pitching staff has tossed 11 shutouts, including nine complete-game shutouts, over the first 29 games of the season. MSU set a program record by opening 2018 with five straight shutout victories. The Bulldog staff was just one of three teams, joining Alabama and Lipscomb, to shut out opponents in every contest over opening weekend.

Entering the seventh week of the season, MSU ranks eighth in the country and fourth in the SEC with a 1.19 ERA, allowing just 32 earned runs over 188.0 innings this season.

MAMA MIA!
To say that Mia Davidson has had hot start to her freshman season would be an understatement. Not only has Davidson proven to be a spark to MSU offense's early success, but she has also ranks as one of the top hitters amongst the conference.

Davidson currently ranks in the top 11 in the Southeastern Conference in nine offensive categories, including third in slugging percentage (.903), total bases (84), home runs (1) and doubles (10), fourth in hits (40) and 10th in batting average (.430).

MISSISSIPPI QUEEN
In her seventh season at the helm of Mississippi State softball, Vann Stuedeman has notched 228 to surpass Kathy Arendsen (1997-2002) for the second-most wins in program history. Jay Miller (2003-211) holds the program record at 295.

WEATHER
Wednesday's Forecast: Mostly Sunny, 60 Degrees (10 %)

WATCH LIVE
Wednesday's game will be broadcasted nationally on the SEC Network with Cara Capuano and Kayla Braud on the call. Fans can also stream the game via WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.

Mississippi State vs. Central Arkansas

LIVE STATS
Mississippi State will provide live stats for Wednesday's contest, which can be accessed in the link below.

Mississippi State vs. Central Arkansas Live Stats

ADMISSION
Admission to all regular-season home games at Nusz Park is FREE.

PROMOTIONS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21
- FREE Admission
- FREE Gift Cards & Prizes Throughout the Games
- FREE T-Shirts for ALL Bulldog Strikeouts!
- GIVEAWAY: Free "No One Fights Alone" Teal T-Shirts While Supplies Last
- "Teal Midweek" Supporting Ovarian Cancer Awareness
- Up to 225 Hail State Rewards Points Per Game
- 150 Bully's Kids Club Points Per Game

ON DECK
Mississippi State continues its home stand this weekend to host its first conference series of the season at Nusz Park, which will feature a Top-25 matchup against No. 7 Georgia. The series begins on Friday. March 23 at 6 p.m. Game two is set for a 2 p.m. CT first pitch on Saturday. March 24 with the series finale on Sunday, March 24 beginning at 2 p.m. CT. All three games of the series will be streamed on the SEC Network +.

FOLLOW THE DAWGS
For more on Mississippi State softball, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "HailStateSB." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap".