Sunday, February 9
Clearwater, Fla.
11:00 AM
Mississippi State
4-0
9
vs
0
NC State
2-3
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
NC State
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
Mississippi State
4
0
0
1
4
9
8
0
Photo by: Trevor Birchett/MSU Athletics
Mississippi State Wins NFCA Leadoff Classic with Run-Rule Victory
February 09, 2020 | Softball
by Brian Ogden, Assistant Director/Communications
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Mississippi State's first four batters set the tone for a dominant day at the plate as the Bulldogs (4-0) claimed a 9-0 run-rule victory in five innings against NC State (2-3) on Sunday.
State won the NFCA Leadoff Classic with a perfect record through four games and earned the title based on average run differential (+5.5). MSU led the tournament with .343 average and smacked seven doubles, driving in 26 runs.
The Bulldog pitching staff threw two shutouts and allowed just two earned runs for a tournament-leading 0.52 ERA. Grace Fagan, Annie Willis and Emily Williams combined for 36 strikeouts over four games and held opponents to a .160 batting average.
"I saw a lot of really good things from our team this weekend," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I really like what our pitching staff did. I thought Coach Josh [Johnson] and them have really been working hard. He called a great game, and they've really bought in and were mixing speeds and locations."
From the very first inning, MSU took control of the contest on Sunday. After Fagan retired the Wolfpack in order, State's first three hitters all reached. Chloe Malau'ulu then kicked off the offensive fireworks with a grand slam to center field. It was the Bulldogs' second grand slam in as many days, and two of Malau'ulu's three hits on the weekend left the yard.
Fagan then settled into a rhythm, retiring the next five batters in order while registering four of her eight strikeouts. The Bulldogs pushed another run across in the bottom of the fourth inning when Candace Denis hit a sacrifice fly.
When the Wolfpack managed their only threat of the day in the top of the fifth, Jackie McKenna picked off two runners to erase Fagan's walk and a hit by pitch. Segars doubled home a run in the bottom half of the inning before Denis hit a three-run homer for a walk-off, run-rule victory.
"I think it was a really good weekend," "It was good for our confidence. We're trying to get them to understand that we're going to perform like an elite team, and that's what we want to do. Teams are going to come at us with their best effort. I want them to be confident in themselves and each other when they're out there and play like it."
State now returns to Starkville for its home opener on Wednesday before hosting the Bulldog Kickoff Classic on the weekend.
Anna Kate Segars – Doubled home a run for her first hit of the year after entering as a pinch runner.
Candace Denis – Hit a three-run home run to end the game via run-rule … matched her career high with four runs driven in.
Grace Fagan – Struck out eight batters while allowing just one hit … Moved to 2-0 on the year with a 0.70 ERA … Leads the staff with just three hits allowed while also throwing the most innings (10.0).
Jackie McKenna – Picked off two runners in the top of the fifth.
Candace Denis led off being hit by a pitch before Mia Davidson singled to put a pair of runners on. Both runners advanced on a passed ball before Fa Leilua drew a walk. Chloe Malau'ulu homered to center on a 2-0 pitch.
NC State 0, Mississippi State 4
Bottom 4
Aquana Brownlee singled to left field and Christian Quinn was hit by a pitch to open the inning. Anna Kate Segars pinch ran for Quinn. Brownlee advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly from Denis. A fly out and a ground out ended the inning.
NC State 0, Mississippi State 5
Bottom 5
With one out Montana Davidson singled to left field. Celeste Soliz pinch ran and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Following a line out, Brownlee reached on an error when the first baseman dropped the throw, which also allowed Soliz to reach third. Segars doubled to left to bring Soliz home and move Brownlee to third. Denis hit a walk-off, three-run homer to dead center to run-rule the Wolfpack.
NC State 0, Mississippi State 9
Mississippi State vs. Missouri State – W, 5-0
Mississippi State vs. Team USA (Exh.) – L, 0-4
Saturday, Feb. 8
Liberty vs. Mississippi State – W, 9-2
Louisville vs. Mississippi State – W, 3-2 (8)
Sunday, Feb. 9
Mississippi State vs. NC State – W, 9-0 (5)
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Mississippi State's first four batters set the tone for a dominant day at the plate as the Bulldogs (4-0) claimed a 9-0 run-rule victory in five innings against NC State (2-3) on Sunday.
State won the NFCA Leadoff Classic with a perfect record through four games and earned the title based on average run differential (+5.5). MSU led the tournament with .343 average and smacked seven doubles, driving in 26 runs.
The Bulldog pitching staff threw two shutouts and allowed just two earned runs for a tournament-leading 0.52 ERA. Grace Fagan, Annie Willis and Emily Williams combined for 36 strikeouts over four games and held opponents to a .160 batting average.
"I saw a lot of really good things from our team this weekend," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I really like what our pitching staff did. I thought Coach Josh [Johnson] and them have really been working hard. He called a great game, and they've really bought in and were mixing speeds and locations."
From the very first inning, MSU took control of the contest on Sunday. After Fagan retired the Wolfpack in order, State's first three hitters all reached. Chloe Malau'ulu then kicked off the offensive fireworks with a grand slam to center field. It was the Bulldogs' second grand slam in as many days, and two of Malau'ulu's three hits on the weekend left the yard.
Fagan then settled into a rhythm, retiring the next five batters in order while registering four of her eight strikeouts. The Bulldogs pushed another run across in the bottom of the fourth inning when Candace Denis hit a sacrifice fly.
When the Wolfpack managed their only threat of the day in the top of the fifth, Jackie McKenna picked off two runners to erase Fagan's walk and a hit by pitch. Segars doubled home a run in the bottom half of the inning before Denis hit a three-run homer for a walk-off, run-rule victory.
"I think it was a really good weekend," "It was good for our confidence. We're trying to get them to understand that we're going to perform like an elite team, and that's what we want to do. Teams are going to come at us with their best effort. I want them to be confident in themselves and each other when they're out there and play like it."
State now returns to Starkville for its home opener on Wednesday before hosting the Bulldog Kickoff Classic on the weekend.
Quick Hitters
Chloe Malau'ulu – Hit the 43rd grand slam in school history and the ninth since the start of the 2018 season … It was State's second grand slam in as many days … Two of Malau'ulu's three hits this season have left the park.Anna Kate Segars – Doubled home a run for her first hit of the year after entering as a pinch runner.
Candace Denis – Hit a three-run home run to end the game via run-rule … matched her career high with four runs driven in.
Grace Fagan – Struck out eight batters while allowing just one hit … Moved to 2-0 on the year with a 0.70 ERA … Leads the staff with just three hits allowed while also throwing the most innings (10.0).
Jackie McKenna – Picked off two runners in the top of the fifth.
Scoring Recap
Bottom 1Candace Denis led off being hit by a pitch before Mia Davidson singled to put a pair of runners on. Both runners advanced on a passed ball before Fa Leilua drew a walk. Chloe Malau'ulu homered to center on a 2-0 pitch.
NC State 0, Mississippi State 4
Bottom 4
Aquana Brownlee singled to left field and Christian Quinn was hit by a pitch to open the inning. Anna Kate Segars pinch ran for Quinn. Brownlee advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly from Denis. A fly out and a ground out ended the inning.
NC State 0, Mississippi State 5
Bottom 5
With one out Montana Davidson singled to left field. Celeste Soliz pinch ran and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Following a line out, Brownlee reached on an error when the first baseman dropped the throw, which also allowed Soliz to reach third. Segars doubled to left to bring Soliz home and move Brownlee to third. Denis hit a walk-off, three-run homer to dead center to run-rule the Wolfpack.
NC State 0, Mississippi State 9
NFCA Leadoff Classic Schedule/Results
Friday, Feb. 7 Mississippi State vs. Missouri State – W, 5-0
Mississippi State vs. Team USA (Exh.) – L, 0-4
Saturday, Feb. 8
Liberty vs. Mississippi State – W, 9-2
Louisville vs. Mississippi State – W, 3-2 (8)
Sunday, Feb. 9
Mississippi State vs. NC State – W, 9-0 (5)
On Deck
MSU returns to Starkville for its home opener at Nusz Park on Feb. 12 against Alabama State. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. with free T-shirts and koozies available on the outfield deck.Follow the Bulldogs
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Fagan, Grace (2-0)
L: Sydney Nester (1-2)
Base Running:
HBP: Skylar Johnston 1
PO: Randi Farricker 1 ; Skylar Johnston 1
Batting:
2B: Segars, Anna Kate 1
HR: Denis, Candace 1 ; Malau'ulu, Chloe 1
RBI: Denis, Candace 4 ; Malau'ulu, Chloe 4 ; Segars, Anna Kate 1
SF: Denis, Candace 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Denis, Candace 2 ; Davidson, Mia 1 ; Leilua, Fa 1 ; Malau'ulu, Chloe 1 ; Soliz, Celeste 1 ; Brownlee, Aquana 2 ; Segars, Anna Kate 1
HBP: Denis, Candace 1 ; Quinn, Christian 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
4
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
4
Players Mentioned
INF/OF
/ SoftballC/INF
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballP/UTL
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C/3B
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF/1B
/ Softball
C/UTL
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
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