Bulldogs Outlast Blazers, 5-4, in Midweek Finale

Tuesday, April 16

Birmingham, Ala.

5:00 PM

Mississippi State

26-17

UAB

15-27

Mississippi State

UAB

Fa Leilua slugged her 20th home run of the season Wednesday night in Birmingham.

Bulldogs Outlast Blazers, 5-4, in Midweek Finale

April 16, 2019 | Softball

Box Score Box Score Box Score (PDF)

by Taylor Shirey, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Home runs from junior Fa Leilua and sophomore Mia Davidson was all Mississippi State softball (26-17) needed to knock off UAB (15-27), 5-4, at Mary Bowers Field on Tuesday night to wrap up State's non-conference slate.

The Blazers scored four unanswered runs, but sold defense and pitching over the sixth and seventh innings preserved the victory for the Bulldogs.

Six Bulldogs accounted for the Bulldogs 11 hits in the contests with junior Candace Denis and senior Sarai Niu each tallying three hits in the contest. Senior Bevia Robinson went 2-for-3 at the plate with two bunt singles. Leilua (3) and Davidson (2) drove in the only RBI on in the game.

Junior Alyssa Loza earned the victory to improve to 8-1 on the season. Loza tossed three innings, allowing two runs off four hits. Freshman Grace Fagan earned her fourth save of the season, allowing just one hit and two walks over her two innings of work. She struck out one.

Junior Candace Denis wasted no time as she knocked the first pitch she saw up the middle. After sophomore Mia Davidson got on board via a hit by pitch, junior Fa Leilua cleared the bases with a three-run homer to straightaway center to put MSU up early.

A two-out rally in the top of the second sparked another scoring opportunity for the Bulldogs. Following an infield single to second from Denis, Davidson slugged her 22^nd homer of the season with a two-run bomb to left field to extend the lead to 5-0.

UAB loaded the bases with no outs with help of two walks and a Destini England double to right field. Sierra Frazier knocked a slow ground ball back to sophomore pitcher Emily Williams, allowing a run to score on the play while a Bulldog error on the throw to first brought home a second run to cut MSU's lead to 5-2.

Both pitching staff traded a scoreless third and fourth, but the Blazers chipped away at the Mississippi State lead in the bottom of the fifth, using RBI doubles to left from Dylinn Stancil and England to pull within one, 5-4.

A two-out hit by pitch and single to shallow center put runners on the corners with the tying run at third base in the bottom of the sixth, but senior Emily Heimberger fielded the ground ball at second to flip to first and keep MSU's lead steady at 5-4.

UAB got the tying run on board in the bottom of the seventh with a one-out walk, but freshman Grace Fagan picked up a strikeout and forced a pop up to second to record the save.

DAVIDSON NEARING SEC SINGLE-SEASON RECORD

With her 22^nd home run of the season, Mia Davidson now stands tied for fifth in SEC single-season history with Georgia's Alex Hugo (2015) and Brittany Schutte (2011). She is now four away from breaking Alex Hugo's record of 25 set in 2014.

Davidson now has 41 career home runs and is three shy of tying Kellie Wilkerson (1999-02) for Mississippi State's career record.

ON DECK
Mississippi State rounds outs it home schedule with back-to-back SEC series at Nusz Park, beginning this week against in-state rival No. 17/15 Ole Miss. The series begins on Thursday, April 18 at 6 p.m. CT. Game two of the series will receive national attention on the SEC Network at 5 p.m. CT on Friday, April 19. The series finale on Saturday, April 20 will be MSU's Senior Day as the Bulldogs honor Kat Moore, Emily Heimberger, Bevia Robinson, Taylor Kelly and Sarai Niu in a post-game ceremony. First pitch is set for 1 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".