Monday, March 2
Starkville
1:00 PM
Mississippi State
19-3
6
vs
0
UT Martin
12-10
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2
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4
5
6
7
R
H
E
UT Martin
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
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2
Mississippi State
2
0
2
2
0
0
X
6
11
0
Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Williams Cruises in One-Hit Outing Against UT Martin
March 02, 2020 | Softball
by Brian Ogden, Assistant Director/Communications
STARKVILLE – Emily Williams threw her second complete-game shutout of the year as Mississippi State's softball program cruised to a 6-0 victory against UT Martin on Monday. The win marked State's eighth shutout of the year.
MSU (19-3) got started early doing most of the damage via the home run ball. Carter Spexarth hit her second home run in as many days in the first inning, and the Bulldogs never trailed. Mia Davidson tacked on another in the third on a line drive rocket that just cleared the left field fence inches away from the foul pole.
"[Carter's] definitely seeing the ball well, and you can see her confidence growing every game," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I'm really proud of her and the consistency that she's been able to bring to the lineup, especially behind Mia [Davidson] and Fa [Leilua], that's huge."
Williams took it from there, matching her career-high with 14 strikeouts while allowing just one hit in the fourth inning.
"She's got some great spins [and] great movement, a really great rise ball they were having a tough time laying off of," Ricketts said of Williams. "When they did seem to time it up, she could mix up the changeup or come with something hard. I think she did a really good job keeping them off-balance all day."
Nine different Bulldogs had hits in the contest. Chloe Malau'ulu, who was named SEC Player of the Week just moments prior to first pitch, went 2-for-3 with an RBI double. Candace Denis and Fa Leilua also recorded extra-base hits. Madisyn Kennedy, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, went 1-for-3 and has recorded a hit in nine of the last 10 games.
With the win, Ricketts is on the cusp of history. Should MSU win its opening game of the Bulldog Slamboree on Friday, she will become the fastest head coach in program history to record 20 wins, doing so in 23 games.
Chloe Malau'ulu – After being named SEC Player of the Week this afternoon, posted a 2-for-3 day with an RBI double … Has now reached base in six straight games.
Carter Spexarth – Hit a two-run homer in the first inning … Has now left the ballpark on consecutive days … Added a single for her team-leading eighth multi-hit game of the year.
Emily Williams – Matched her career high with 14 strikeouts … Struck out the side in both the fourth and sixth innings … UT Martin used 11 different hitters, and Williams struck out nine of them at least once … Threw her second complete-game shutout of the year … Allowed one hit in the fourth.
Setting Them Down – The Bulldog pitching staff has now recorded six games with 10 or more strikeouts … The game also marked State's eighth shutout victory in 2020.
Mia Davidson reached on a throwing error by the third baseman. Carter Spexarth hit a two-run homer to left field.
UT Martin 0, Mississippi State 2
Bottom 3
Mia Davidson hit a line-drive, solo home run down the left field line that just cleared the fence. Fa Leilua doubled to right center and later scored on Chloe Malau'ulu's double to left field.
UT Martin 0, Mississippi State 4
Bottom 4
Montana Davidson drove a one-out single into center field. Candace Denis hit a ground-rule double over the left center field wall. Mia Davidson reached on an error by the third baseman, allowing her sister to score. Denis took third on the play. Carter Spexarth singled into right center to score Denis.
UT Martin 0, Mississippi State 6
STARKVILLE – Emily Williams threw her second complete-game shutout of the year as Mississippi State's softball program cruised to a 6-0 victory against UT Martin on Monday. The win marked State's eighth shutout of the year.
MSU (19-3) got started early doing most of the damage via the home run ball. Carter Spexarth hit her second home run in as many days in the first inning, and the Bulldogs never trailed. Mia Davidson tacked on another in the third on a line drive rocket that just cleared the left field fence inches away from the foul pole.
"[Carter's] definitely seeing the ball well, and you can see her confidence growing every game," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I'm really proud of her and the consistency that she's been able to bring to the lineup, especially behind Mia [Davidson] and Fa [Leilua], that's huge."
Williams took it from there, matching her career-high with 14 strikeouts while allowing just one hit in the fourth inning.
"She's got some great spins [and] great movement, a really great rise ball they were having a tough time laying off of," Ricketts said of Williams. "When they did seem to time it up, she could mix up the changeup or come with something hard. I think she did a really good job keeping them off-balance all day."
Nine different Bulldogs had hits in the contest. Chloe Malau'ulu, who was named SEC Player of the Week just moments prior to first pitch, went 2-for-3 with an RBI double. Candace Denis and Fa Leilua also recorded extra-base hits. Madisyn Kennedy, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, went 1-for-3 and has recorded a hit in nine of the last 10 games.
With the win, Ricketts is on the cusp of history. Should MSU win its opening game of the Bulldog Slamboree on Friday, she will become the fastest head coach in program history to record 20 wins, doing so in 23 games.
Quick Hitters
Mia Davidson – Hit her 50th career home run in the third inning, making her the 23rd player in SEC history to reach the milestone.Chloe Malau'ulu – After being named SEC Player of the Week this afternoon, posted a 2-for-3 day with an RBI double … Has now reached base in six straight games.
Carter Spexarth – Hit a two-run homer in the first inning … Has now left the ballpark on consecutive days … Added a single for her team-leading eighth multi-hit game of the year.
Emily Williams – Matched her career high with 14 strikeouts … Struck out the side in both the fourth and sixth innings … UT Martin used 11 different hitters, and Williams struck out nine of them at least once … Threw her second complete-game shutout of the year … Allowed one hit in the fourth.
Setting Them Down – The Bulldog pitching staff has now recorded six games with 10 or more strikeouts … The game also marked State's eighth shutout victory in 2020.
Scoring Recap
Bottom 1Mia Davidson reached on a throwing error by the third baseman. Carter Spexarth hit a two-run homer to left field.
UT Martin 0, Mississippi State 2
Bottom 3
Mia Davidson hit a line-drive, solo home run down the left field line that just cleared the fence. Fa Leilua doubled to right center and later scored on Chloe Malau'ulu's double to left field.
UT Martin 0, Mississippi State 4
Bottom 4
Montana Davidson drove a one-out single into center field. Candace Denis hit a ground-rule double over the left center field wall. Mia Davidson reached on an error by the third baseman, allowing her sister to score. Denis took third on the play. Carter Spexarth singled into right center to score Denis.
UT Martin 0, Mississippi State 6
On Deck
MSU will welcome Bryant, Mississippi Valley State and Southeast Missouri State to Nusz Park this weekend for the Bulldog Slamboree. The Bulldogs will play five games over March 6-8, beginning with 3 p.m. CT tilt against Bryant on Friday.Follow the Bulldogs
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Williams, Emily (4-0)
L: LAYNE, S. (2-4)
Batting:
SH: DYCUS, M. 1
Base Running:
HBP: BIVENS, A. 1
Batting:
2B: Denis, Candace 1 ; Leilua, Fa 1 ; Malau'ulu, Chloe 1 ; Segars, Anna Kate 1
HR: Davidson, Mia 1 ; Spexarth, Carter 1
RBI: Davidson, Mia 2 ; Spexarth, Carter 3 ; Malau'ulu, Chloe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Denis, Candace 1 ; Davidson, Mia 2 ; Leilua, Fa 1 ; Spexarth, Carter 1 ; Davidson, Montana 1
HBP: Segars, Anna Kate 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
C/INF
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballP/UTL
/ Softball
SS/3B
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
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