No. 18 MSU Softball Continues Road Tilt with SEC Series at Arkansas

Friday, March 30

Fayetteville, Ark.

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

#23 Arkansas

Senior Cassady Knudsen ranks ninth nationally with a 10.4 strikeouts per seven innings average.

No. 18 MSU Softball Continues Road Tilt with SEC Series at Arkansas

March 29, 2018 | Softball

Game Notes Live Stats SEC Network+ (Friday) SEC Network + (Saturday) SEC Network + (Sunday)

STARKVILLE, Miss. – After picking up a dominating victory at Alabama State Tuesday night, No. 18 Mississippi State (28-6, 3-3 SEC) continues its road swing this weekend with a Southeastern Conference series at Arkansas (25-6, 2-4 SEC).

The series begins on Friday, March 30 with a 6 p.m. CT first pitch from Bogle Park. Both Saturday and Sunday's contests are set for 1 p.m. CT start times. All three games of the series will be streamed via the SEC Network + with Brett Dolan and Megan Turk on the call.

Mississippi State and Arkansas have met 64 times with the Bulldogs leading the series 38-26. State has dominated the series of late, winning seven of the last eight contests. This weekend is MSU's first trip to Fayetteville, Ark., since the 2015 season. MSU has won 16 of the 29 contests at Bogle Park. With the Razorbacks nabbing a No. 23 ranking in the latest USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, two of MSU's first three conference series have come against ranked opponents.

Tuesday night, MSU flexed the offense with an 11-0 victory at Alabama State, MSU's 13^th shutout of the season. The freshman class highlighted the performance as Mia Davidson and Grace Dabbs knocked home runs in the outing to drive in five runs.

Pitching continues to be the most dominate factor in the Bulldogs' success through the first half of the season. As a staff, MSU has tossed 13 shutouts to hold a blistering 1.32 earned run average, which is good for fifth in the SEC and 11^th nationally. MSU also ranks sixth in the conference with a 3.43 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Senior Holly Ward continues to be the anchor of the pitching staff, ranking eighth in the conference with a 0.98 ERA. Ward has notched 10 wins and three saves this season and ranks eighth in the conference with 93 strikeouts. Senior Cassady Knudsen holds seventh place in the SEC with 99 strikeouts, already the fifth-most recorded by a Bulldog senior in school history. Knudsen also ranks ninth in the country with a 10.4 strikeouts per seven innings average this season.

Offensively, Davidson continues to put together one of the best freshmen classes in over a decade. Davidson is the only Bulldogs this season to record 30 or more runs scored, RBIs and hits this season. She ranks eighth in MSU single-season history and second in the SEC with 12 home runs this season.

LAST TIME OUT
MSU opened its four-game road swing at Alabama State on Tuesday night as the freshmen class powered the Bulldogs to a victory and the program's 13^th shutout of the season. Mia Davidson led MSU at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Grace Dabbs also recorded big hit for the Bulldogs with an inside-the-park home run in the top of the seventh. MSU pitching staff of Emily Williams, Candace Denis and Emily Mitchell combined for nine strikeouts and allowed just two Hornet hits.

Tuesday, March 27
No. 18 Mississippi State def. Alabama State, 11-0 (Box Score, Recap)

SERIES HISTORY
Against Arkansas
Overall: Mississippi State leads 38-26
In Fayetteville: Mississippi State leads 16-13
Last Meeting: Mississippi State def. No. 24 Arkansas, 4-3
Current Streak: Mississippi State, +1

HURTS SO GOOD
For the 33rd time in her career, Sarai Niu was hit by a pitch, which moves her into a tie for third all-time in program history. Niu has tied Keri McCallum, who was also hit 33 times over the 1997-2000 seasons. Briana Bell (2008-13) holds the program of 55.

BOMB SQUAD
As a team the Bulldogs have hit 32 home runs, which ranks fifth in the Southeastern Conference and have turned in 11 multi-home run performances this season. Freshman Mia Davidson leads the team and ranks second in the SEC with a total of 12 home runs through the first 34 games of the season.

Four Bulldogs have also knocked the first home runs of their career this season: Grace Dabbs, Carmen Carter, Macey Petrey and Bevia Robinson.

WARD UP
Holly Ward's impressive start to her senior season has moved her into the MSU career record book. With a strong showing over MSU's series against No. 7 Georgia, Ward moved into seventh in career strikeouts and ranks in the top 10 in six pitching categories.

T6th Shutouts 9
T6th Solo No-Hitters 1
7th Opponent Batting Avg. .235
7th Strikeouts 292
T7th Saves 6
9th Strikeouts per 7 inn. 5.57

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 10 in the Southeastern Conference in 10 offensive categories, including first in total bases (97), second in home runs (12), slugging percentage (.898) and hits (47) and sixth in batting average (.435).

MISSISSIPPI QUEEN
In her seventh season at the helm of Mississippi State softball, Vann Stuedeman has notched 231 wins to surpass Kathy Arendsen (1997-2002) for the second-most victories in program history. Jay Miller (2003-211) holds the program record at 295.

WEATHER
Friday, March 30 – 62 Degrees; Sunny (10%)
Saturday, March 31 – 67 Degrees; Showers (50%)
Sunday, April 1 – 42 Degrees; Showers (30%)

WATCH LIVE
All three games of this weekend's series will be streamed on the SEC Network + via the WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.

No. 18 Mississippi State at Arkansas (Game One)
No. 18 Mississippi State at Arkansas (Game Two)
No. 18 Mississippi State at Arkansas (Game Three)

LIVE STATS
Arkansas will provide live stats for Tuesday's contest, which may be accessed through the link below:

No. 18 Mississippi State at Arkansas Live Stats

ADMISSION
Admission for this weekend's series at Bogle Park is free.

ON DECK
Mississippi State returns to Nusz Park next weekend for another Top 25 showdown in Starkville as the Bulldogs welcome No. 12 Texas A&M for a three-game series, which begins on Friday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m. CT.

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".