Bulldogs Prep for Weekend Series at No. 4 Alabama

Friday, March 29

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

6:30 PM

Mississippi State

#4 Alabama

Mia Davidson enters the weekend as the SEC leader in batting average with a .494 mark.

Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics

Bulldogs Prep for Weekend Series at No. 4 Alabama

March 28, 2019 | Softball

Game Notes Tickets Live Stats WatchESPN

by Taylor Shirey, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Continuing its five-game road swing, Mississippi State softball (21-10, 1-5 SEC) will face its third straight ranked opponent in conference play as the Bulldogs trek to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a three-game series against No. 4/4 Alabama (34-1, 5-1 SEC) at Rhoads Stadium.

The series begins on Friday, March 29 at 6:30 p.m. CT. Game two against the Tide is slated for a 2 p.m. CT first pitch on Saturday, March 30. The series finale will begin on Sunday, March 31 at 1:30 p.m. CT. All three contests will be streamed on the SEC Network + with Roger Hoover (play-by-play) and Rachel Bobo (analyst) on the call.

Mississippi State kicked off its road swing on Tuesday with a 4-3 victory over Central Arkansas. With the game locked at 3-3 in the seventh inning, senior Bevia Robinson knocked a two-out RBI single to left field to lift the Bulldogs to their 21st win of the season.

Entering the weekend, Mississippi State is the only Division I school to boast two student-athletes with 15 or more home runs this season as sophomore Mia Davidson (15) and junior Fa Leilua (15) ranked tied for fourth nationally and second in the Southeastern Conference in homers.

With her 15 home runs, Davidson has tied Caroline Seitz (2015) for Mississippi State's sophomore home run record. She currently ranks fourth in program history with 34 homers to her credit.

In the circle, junior Alyssa Loza paces the staff with a team-low 2.75 earned run average while holding the best record holding a 7-1 mark. Loza has allowed just 12 walks this season and has fanned 29. Sophomore Emily Williams leads the team with 75 strikeouts, ranking 10th in the league. Her 9.2 strikeouts per seven inning average is second in the conference.

ALABAMA SERIES SCHEDULE
Friday, March 29
Game One – Mississippi State at No. 4/4 Alabama – 6:30 p.m. CT

Saturday, March 30
Game Two – Mississippi State at No. 4/4/ Alabama – 2 p.m. CT

Sunday, March 31
Game Three – Mississippi State at No. 4/4 Alabama – 1:30 p.m. CT

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Against Alabama
Overall: Alabama leads, 59-11
In Tuscaloosa: Alabama leads, 3-28
Last Meeting: Alabama def. Mississippi State, 3-0 (March 19, 2017 in Starkville)
Current Streak: Alabama, +1

LEADING OFF

Mississippi State returns to SEC play with its third straight ranked conference foe as the Bulldogs trek to No. 4 Alabama for a three-game series.
The Bulldogs are making their first trek to Tuscaloosa since the 2016 season and are looking for their first road series win over Crimson Tide in program history.
Entering the seventh week of the season, Mississippi State is receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll.
In the second RPI release of the 2019 season, Mississippi State jumped five spots to No. 28. Nine SEC programs currently rank within the top 30.
In her eighth season at the helm of the Bulldogs, head coach Vann Stuedeman has collected 262 career wins and is now just 33 shy from tying the program record for most victories by a MSU head coach.
With 15 home runs this season, Mia Davidson has now tied Caroline Seitz (2015) for Mississippi State's sophomore home run record. Last season, Davidson set MSU's freshman home run record with 19.
Through the first 31 games of the season, Mississippi State has knocked 39 total home runs and is just 16 shy from tying the program record of 55 set in 2018.
Senior Sarai Niu enters the week with 1,060 career putouts to her credit. She is just the fifth Bulldog in program history to record 1,000 or more putouts over a career. She is just 365 putouts shy of MSU's career record held by Cheri Smith (1998-01).
With sophomore Carter Spexarth's grand slam at Kentucky (3/16), Mississippi State has knocked five grand slams this season to tie the program record set in 2010.
Entering the weekend, Mia Davidson and Fa Leilua rank tied for fourth in all of Division I softball in home runs (15). They have combined for 30 of MSU's 39 home runs this season.
Striking out only twice in 60 at bats, sophomore Carter Spexarth ranks as the third toughest batter in the SEC to strike out, only doing so once every 30.0 at bats.

WATCH LIVE
All three contests at Alabama will be streamed on the SEC Network + via Watch ESPN and the ESPN app. Roger Hoover (play-by-play) and Rachel Bobo (analyst) will have the call.

Friday, March 29 – Mississippi State at No. 4/4 Alabama (SEC Network +)
Saturday, March 30 – Mississippi State at No. 4/4 Alabama (SEC Network +)
Sunday, March 31 – Mississippi State at No. 4/4 Alabama (SEC Network +)

LIVE STATS
Alabama will provide live stats for all three games over the weekend series via SideArm Sports. Live stats may be accessed by CLICKING HERE.

ADMISSION
General admission tickets are still available for the weekend series at Rhoads Stadium. CLICK HERE to purchase.

WEATHER
Friday: 78 Degrees – Cloudy (10%)
Saturday: 77 Degrees – Mostly Cloudy (20%)
Sunday: 62 Degrees – Scattered Showers (40%)

ON DECK
Mississippi State rounds out its five-game road stand on Tuesday, April 3 with a neutral site contest versus Jacksonville State. The two squads will face off in Huntsville, Ala., at 5:30 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".