Softball Treks to Huntsville for Midweek Date with Jacksonville State

Wednesday, April 3

Huntsville, Ala.

5:30 PM

Mississippi State

Jacksonville State

The Bulldogs round out at five-game road tilt on Wednesday against Jacksonville State.

Softball Treks to Huntsville for Midweek Date with Jacksonville State

April 02, 2019 | Softball

Live Stats

by Taylor Shirey, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Rounding out a five-game road swing, Mississippi State softball (22-12) treks to Huntsville, Alabama, to host Jacksonville State (23-8) for a neutral site contest on the campus of the University of Alabama at Huntsville on Wednesday.

First pitch is slated for 5:30 p.m. CT. The Bulldogs will be the home team for the neutral site contest.

Mississippi State's road swing began last week with a midweek victory at Central Arkansas before the Bulldogs drop a Southeastern Conference series to No. 4/4 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

The Bulldogs prevented the sweep with a dramatic come-from-behind victory against the Crimson Tide on Sunday. Senior Kat Moore lifted State to the extra-innings victory with a three-run home run in the top of the 10^th.

Sophomore Mia Davidson broke yet another Mississippi State record over the weekend as she slugged her 16^th home run of the season to set the program's sophomore home run record. Davidson ranks second in the conference and third nationally in home runs entering the week.

Senior Emily Heimberger is coming off an impressive weekend at Alabama as she turned in three multi-hit contests, knocking a career-high four hits in Sunday's series finale. She totaled eight hits and four runs over the series.

Powered by two impressive shutdown performances against Alabama, sophomore Emily Williams leads the pitching staff with a 2.46 earned-run average and a 6-3 overall record. Williams ranks seventh in the SEC with 86 total strikeouts this season and averages 9.5 strikeouts per seven innings, a mark that ranks eighth in the conference.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Against Jacksonville State
Overall: Mississippi State leads, 10-3
At Neutral Sites: Series tied, 1-1
Last Meeting: Mississippi State def. Jacksonville State, 8-0 [5 innings] (Feb. 9, 2014 in Starkville)
Current Streak: Mississippi State, +4

LEADING OFF

Mississippi State rounds out its five-game road trip on Wednesday with midweek contest against Jacksonville State in Huntsville, Alabama. The Bulldogs are 4-0 in midweek contests this season.
In the third RPI release of the 2019 season, Mississippi State jumped four spots to No. 24. Eight SEC programs currently rank within the top 25 in the latest RPI standings.
With an impressive come-from-behind, extra-innings victory over No. 4/4 Alabama on March 31 to prevent the series sweep, Mississippi State recorded its first win in Tuscaloosa over the Tide since the 2013 season.
In her eighth season at the helm of the Bulldogs, head coach Vann Stuedeman has collected 263 career wins and is now just 32 shy from tying the program record for most victories by a MSU head coach.
Through the first 34 games of the season, Mississippi State has knocked 41 total home runs and is just 14 shy from tying the program record of 55 set in 2018.
Striking out only twice in 69 at bats, sophomore Carter Spexarth ranks as the toughest batter in the SEC to strike out, only doing so once every 34.5 at bats.
Knocking her 16th home run of the season at No. 4/4 Alabama, Mia Davidson has set Mississippi State's sophomore home run record, surpassing Caroline Seitz (2015). Davidson set MSU's freshman home run record last season with 19.
Senior Sarai Niu enters the week with 1,074 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 356 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.
Tallied eight hits over the weekend series at Alabama, senior Emily Heimberger surpassed the 150 career hits mark, entering the week with 154.
Entering the weekend, Mia Davidson (16) and Fa Leilua (15) rank third and seventh, respectively, in all of Division I softball in home runs. They have combined for 31of MSU's 41 home runs this season.

LIVE STATS
Mississippi State will provide live stats for Wednesday's midweek tilt. Live stats can be accessed by visiting www.msu.statbroadcast.com.

WEATHER
Wednesday, April 3 – Partly Cloudy; 72 Degrees (0%)

ON DECK
Mississippi State returns to Nusz Park this weekend, welcoming No. 7/5 LSU for a conference series. The series begins on Friday, April 5 at 6 p.m. CT. Saturday and Sunday's contests will be aired nationally on ESPNU.

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".