Willis Shuts Down Houston, Comeback Falls Short At No. 7 Texas

Saturday, February 27

Austin, Texas

10:00 AM

Mississippi State

7-3

#7 Texas

6-0

Mississippi State

Texas

Willis Shuts Down Houston, Comeback Falls Short At No. 7 Texas

February 27, 2021 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 at Texas Box Score (PDF)vs. Houston Box Score (PDF)

By: Brian Ogden, Assistant Director/Communications

AUSTIN, Texas – After falling in a tight contest at No. 7 Texas, Mississippi State responded with a 3-0 victory over Houston on Saturday afternoon.

Annie Willis tossed a shutout, allowing just three hits in the complete game effort. Fa Leilua provided the offense with a three-run homer to center field in the bottom of the third.

"I thought Annie did a great job of attacking the zone and settling in from the first inning," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "She really looked like the Annie that we expect to see, mixing speeds and location and getting ahead early in the count often."

The No. 16 Bulldogs (8-3) fought back from a seven-run deficit against Texas (6-0). Trailing 8-1, State mounted a comeback effort in the fourth, plating five runs. The Bulldogs got another run back in the sixth but could never draw even, losing 8-7.

Mia Davidson had an impressive performance against the unbeaten Longhorns, going 3-for-4 with a double and a home run. She scored twice and drove in three runs. Emily Williams put together one of her best outings of the season, throwing 3.0 scoreless innings in relief with four strikeouts.

Davidson added a double against the Cougars (5-5) as State's No. 1-6 hitters all had a hit in the contest. Willis struck out four in a ballgame that saw all of the scoring come in one inning.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on Fa Leilua's home run:
"Fa has done a great job of working on hitting different pitches hard. That was a changeup she sat on to be able to pick up some runs early in the game when we needed it. It was big for our momentum to get Annie some support early."

Samantha Ricketts on coming back from a seven-run deficit against Texas:
"That's something we take a lot of pride in, being able to come back, to not give in and keep fighting back and be scrappy. We've yet to really play our complete game. Have our pitchers keep us in it a little bit longer there and I think we definitely had the fight back to compete at the end."

Quick Hitters

Mia Davidson – Went 3-for-4 against Texas with three RBIs, a double and a home run … Scored twice against the Longhorns … Now 7-for-13 in the Lone Star State Invitational with four extra-base hits … Has a hit in six straight games and has reached base safely in seven straight … Came into the weekend batting .217 and has raised her average to .333.

Montana Davidson – Went 2-for-4 against Texas for her fifth multi-hit game of the year.

Fa Leilua – Hit her 54^th career home run, a three-run shot off the scoreboard in center field, against Houston … Went 2-for-3 against the Cougars.

Carter Spexarth – Drove in a pair of runs with a single in the fourth against Texas.

Paige Cook – Had a pair of hits and an RBI with two runs scored against Texas … Extended her hitting streak to a career-long four games against the Longhorns.

Annie Willis – Allowed just four baserunners in a complete game shutout against Houston … Performance marked the first complete game shutout by a Bulldog since Emily Williams did so against Southeast Missouri State on March 7, 2020.

Emily Williams – Threw 3.0 shutout innings in relief against the Longhorns … Struck out four batters.

The Big Inning – The Bulldogs sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth inning against Texas … State scored five runs on five hits, including two with two outs.

at Texas Scoring Recap

Top 1
With one out, Mia Davidson hit a solo home run to left field
Mississippi State 1, Texas 0

Bottom 1
Janae Jefferson reached on an error and came home on Shannon Rhodes' home run to left field. The next batter, Mary Iakopo, also homered to center field.
Mississippi State 1, Texas 3

Bottom 3
With one out, Kaitlyn Washington singled then took second on a wild pitch. Lauren Burke doubled to left field to score her. Following a ground out, Burke took third on a wild pitch. Alyssa Washington singled to right-center field to score Burke and advanced to second when Jefferson walked. Rhodes then hit a three-run homer to dead center field.
Mississippi State 1, Texas 8

Top 4
Mia Davidson led off with a double to right-center field. Fa Leilua then reached on an error by the shortstop, and Anna Kate Segars was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Carter Spexarth singled through the left side to score two and advanced to second on a throwing error. Allison Florian ran for Spexarth at second base. Paige Cook singled home Segars. Following a strikeout, Christian Quinn and Chloe Malau'ulu both hit RBI singles before the inning ended.
Mississippi State 6, Texas 8

Top 6
Cook led off with a single up the middle and advance to second when Madisyn Kennedy walked. With two outs, Mia Davidson singled to left field, and Cook scored with a head-first slide into the plate.
Mississippi State 7, Texas 8

vs. Houston Scoring Recap

Bottom 3
Chloe Malau'ulu singled with one out, followed by a double from Mia Davidson. Fa Leilua then hit a three-run homer to center field.
Houston 0, Mississippi State 3

On Deck

The Bulldogs wrap up the Lone Star State Invitational on Sunday in Waco, Texas. State will meet No. 21 Baylor at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN+.

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