No. 23 MSU Welcomes Boston College for Midweek Clash

Wednesday, March 7

Starkville

4:00 PM

Mississippi State

Boston College

Teal Recognition vs. Southeastern Louisiana

Wednesday will mark the third "No One Fights Alone" game as Mississippi State will wear teal uniforms to bring awareness to ovarian cancer.

No. 23 MSU Welcomes Boston College for Midweek Clash

March 06, 2018 | Softball

Live Stats SEC Network + Game Notes

STARKVILLE, Miss. – No. 23 Mississippi State softball (16-3) continues its nine-game homestand on Wednesday, March 7 with a midweek clash versus Boston College (5-9) at Nusz Park.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT. Wednesday's contest will be streamed live on the SEC Network+ via WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.

Wednesday marks the third "No One Fights Alone" midweek contest. Fans are encouraged to join the team by wearing teal in honor of freshman outfielder Alex Wilcox to bring awareness to ovarian cancer.

MSU is coming off an undefeated weekend over the Bulldog Slamboree as the Bulldog pitching staff tossed three complete games in four chances with help of two shutout performances by seniors Cassady Knudsen and Holly Ward.

Pitching continues to be a major key to success early in the season. MSU has allowed just 13 earned runs over 126.0 innings and ranks fourth nationally with a 0.72 earned run average entering Wednesday contest. Both Knudsen and Ward rank in the top five amongst pitchers in the Southeastern conference with 0.20 and 0.52 earned run averages, respectively. Knudsen also leads the conference and all of Division I softball with a 12.2 strikeouts per seven innings average. She has struck out at least 10 batters in four of her six starts this season.

Offensively, freshman Mia Davidson continues to be the leader of the Bulldog offense. Over the first 19 games of the season, Davidson holds a .410 average with a staggering .803 slugging percentage. She ranks fourth in the conference with five home runs this season. She opened the season with a 16-game hit streak, becoming just one of 15 Bulldogs in program history to ever record a hit streak of at least 16 games.

ON DECK
Mississippi State closes out its homestand with its final weekend of nonconference play, welcoming Illinois and UMass-Lowell to Nusz Park. State opens the weekend on Friday, March 9 with a 6 p.m. contest versus Illinois. MSU will have the Illini and UMass-Lowell in a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1:30 p.m. CT before closing the weekend on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CT against the Riverhawks.

LAST TIME OUT
Mississippi State hosted the third of its four tournaments at Nusz Park as State took on Lamar, Mercer and Sam Houston State as part of the Bulldog Slamboree. MSU recorded a perfect weekend on the diamond after taking down Lamar, 6-3, Mercer, 7-1, and recording back-to-back shutouts against Sam Houston State with 9-0 (5 inn.) and 5-0 finals.

Friday, March 2
Mississippi def. Lamar, 6-3 (Recap, Box Score)

Saturday, March 3
Mississippi State def. Mercer, 7-1 (Recap, Box Score)
Mississippi State def. Sam Houston State, 9-0 [5] (Recap, Box Score)

Sunday, March 4
Mississippi State def. Sam Houston State, 5-0 (Recap, Box Score)

INSIDE THE SERIES
Against Boston College
Overall: First Meeting
In Starkville: First Meeting
Last Meeting: First Meeting
Current Streak: First Meeting

DAWGS IN THE POLLS
A 4-0 weekend over the Bulldog Slamboree lifted Mississippi State two spot to No. 23 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll. The ranking is the highest for the Bulldogs since February 2016 when MSU also held a No. 23 rank in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25. Currently, 11 of the 13 Southeastern Conference squads are ranked.

BOMB SQUAD
Versus Mercer (3/3), Mississippi State slugged three home runs, marking the first time since Feb. 28, 2017 against Southeastern Louisiana that MSU has slugged three bombs in a game. The Bulldogs currently ranks 10th in the conference with 15 home runs this season. Two Bulldogs - Bevia Robinson and Macey Petrey - have already slugged their first career home runs over the first 19 games of the season.

MY SACRIFICE
Calyn Adams tied a MSU single-game record with two sacrifice flies against Sam Houston State on March 4. She is just the fourth Bulldog in program history to knock two sacrifice flies in the same game and is the first to do so since Nakita Boyce at Southern Miss on April 24, 2007.

MSU's total of three sacrifice flies versus the Bearkats is also tied for the second most in a single game over program history. The last time the Bulldogs knocked three sacrifice flies in a single game was April 17, 2004 at Arkansas.

WARD UP
Holly Ward's impressive start to her senior season has moved her into the MSU career record book. With a shutout against Sam Houston State (3/4), Ward tossed her eighth shutout of her career, moving her in a tied for seventh all-time with Alison Owen (2013-14) and Kim Davis (1985-86). She closed the Bulldog Slamboree with 263 career strikeouts after her fourth double-digit strikeout outing of her career. Ward now ranks ninth all-time in program history and is just seven strikeouts away from surpassing Stephanie Comeaux (2004-07) for eighth.

CASSADY "KKKK"NUDSEN = STRIKEOUT MACHINE
Opening her senior campaign, Cassady Knudsen has struck out at least 10 batters in four of her six starts in 2018, including two career-high performances of 13 strikeouts.

Cassady currently leads the SEC and all of Division I softball with a 12.2 strikeouts per seven inning average. Her 62 total strikeouts currently ranks eighth among SEC pitchers. Over her career, Knudsen ranks second in MSU history with an 7.43 strikeouts per seven inning average.

MISSISSIPPI QUEEN
In her seventh season at the helm of Mississippi State softball, Vann Stuedeman has notched 219 to tie Kathy Arendsen (1997-2002) for the second-most wins in program history. Jay Miller (2003-211) holds the program record at 295.

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

PROMOTIONS
- FREE Admission
- FREE Gift Cards & Prizes Throughout the Games
- FREE T-Shirts for ALL Bulldog Strikeouts!
- "Teal Midweek" Supporting Ovarian Cancer Awareness
- Up to 225 Hail State Rewards Points Per Game
- 150 Bully's Kids Club Points Per Game

WATCH LIVE
Wednesday's midweek contest versus Boston College will be streamed live on the SEC Network + via WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.

MSU vs. Boston College

LIVE STATS
Live stats can be found HERE or by visiting msu.statbroadcast.com.

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".