Sunday, February 28
Waco, Texas
9:00 AM
Mississippi State
8-4
6
at
10
#23 Baylor
5-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Mississippi State
2
0
3
1
0
0
0
6
9
2
Baylor
5
2
0
3
0
0
X
10
12
0
Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Bulldogs Come Up Short In High-Scoring Affair At No. 21 Baylor
February 28, 2021 | Softball
WACO, Texas – No. 16 Mississippi State softball fell to No. 21 Baylor, 10-6, on Sunday in Waco, Texas. The Bulldogs surrendered five runs in the first and could never even the score.
Anna Kate Segars opened the scoring with a two-run home run, her first of the year, in the first inning, but the Bears responded in the bottom half of the frame. Baylor (5-3) saw the first six batters reach safely as it pushed five runs across. The Bears then added two more in the second inning.
"Just a lot of singles. That's a team that doesn't strike out a lot. They put the ball in play," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We've got to be able to make some plays and find a way to pitch to soft contact. Credit to them, they do a great job of forcing you with the amount of balls they put in play. Overall, we just needed to do a better job of limiting the base hits and the big hit to follow that."
State (8-4) got three runs back in the third when Mia Davidson and Fa Leilua hit back-to-back homers for the third time this season. Madisyn Kennedy scored in the fourth on a Christian Quinn single to cut the lead to one, trailing 7-6.
"Again, I like the battle back from the offense," Ricketts said. "I thought they did a good job of not going away, continuing to score runs. We've got to do a better job of getting a shutdown inning after we score and keeping them off the board."
Baylor immediately added three runs in the bottom of the fourth to result in the final score. Grace Fagan took the loss, but Emily Williams threw 2.2 innings of no-hit ball, allowing just one walk, in relief.
"I thought E-Dub really looked like herself again this weekend. She was attacking. She wasn't falling behind. She was mixing speeds. She really was the E-Dub we're used to seeing. I thought she was a bright spot for the bullpen. I'm excited to see her continue doing what we know she can do like she did over the weekend."
Samantha Ricketts on how this weekend prepares her team for SEC play:
"Four of the five games this weekend are true road games. Playing four of five true road games really gets us ready to go into a tough Southeastern Conference schedule. For us, getting used to that, getting used to bouncing back. They're not always going to be shutout, 1-run ballgames. We're going to have to be able to bounce back, score some runs and hold the opponent down. I really think it's something we can move forward from if we're learning from the battle and the lessons we've had early on."
Fa Leilua – Hit her 55th career home run and drew a walk … Scored twice … Five of her six hits over the weekend went for extra bases, including three home runs … Drove in six runs on the weekend.
Emily Williams – Tossed 2.2 no-hit innings, allowing one walk … Made three appearances, totaling 10.0 innings over the Lone Star State Invitational … Struck out 11 while posting a 2.10 ERA for the weekend.
Christian Quinn – Reached base in every plate appearance, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles … Also reached on a dropped third strike.
Chloe Malau'ulu – Has reached base safely in a career-best 16 straight games, including every game of 2021 … Drove in a run with a single and reached on a fielder's choice … Threw out a runner at the plate for her second outfield assist of the year.
Anna Kate Segars – Hit her first home run of the season.
Fa Leilua drew a two-out walk before Anna Kate Segars hit her first home run of the season to right-center field.
Mississippi State 2, Baylor 0
Bottom 1
The first six batters reached safely. Nicky Dawson led off with a single through the left side. Lou Gilbert beat out a bunt, and the throw from the pitcher was wild allowing the runners to take second and third. Goose McGlaun singled to right field, scoring Dawson, but Gilbert was thrown out at the plate for the first out. Josie Bower singled, and Aliyah Binford walked to load the bases. Ana Watson was hit by a pitch to force McGlaun home. A wild pitch allowed Bower to score and Binford to take third. Zadie LaValley hit a two-out double to score Binford.
Mississippi State 2, Baylor 5
Bottom 2
Dawson led off with a walk, and Gilbert laid down her second bunt single of the day. The runners executed a double steal, and the throw to third escaped into left allowing Dawson to score and Gilbert to take third. McGlaun drove in Gilbert with a single up the middle.
Mississippi State 2, Baylor 7
Top 3
Christian Quinn struck out but was safe at first as the third strike got away from the catcher. She took second on a ball in the dirt, and Mia Davidson drove her in on a two-run homer to left-center field. Leilua kept the momentum going with a homer of her own to nearly the same spot of the field, marking the third time the pair has gone back-to-back this season.
Mississippi State 5, Baylor 7
Top 4
With one out, Paige Cook was hit by a pitch. She was retired on a fielder's choice that allowed Madisyn Kennedy to reach. Kennedy advanced to second on a Quinn single and scored when Malau'ulu singled to right field.
Mississippi State 6, Baylor 7
Bottom 4
Five consecutive singles scored three runs to open the frame. Dawson went up the middle, then advanced to second on Gilbert's single to left. Dawson scored on McGlaun's single, and Gilbert moved to second. Bower then singled to center, scoring Gilbert. The throw went to third to try to get McGlaun, and Bower advanced to second. Binford then singled home McGlaun but was called out after the play for leaving first base early. Two ground balls ended the inning and stranded Bower at third.
Mississippi State 6, Baylor 10
Anna Kate Segars opened the scoring with a two-run home run, her first of the year, in the first inning, but the Bears responded in the bottom half of the frame. Baylor (5-3) saw the first six batters reach safely as it pushed five runs across. The Bears then added two more in the second inning.
"Just a lot of singles. That's a team that doesn't strike out a lot. They put the ball in play," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We've got to be able to make some plays and find a way to pitch to soft contact. Credit to them, they do a great job of forcing you with the amount of balls they put in play. Overall, we just needed to do a better job of limiting the base hits and the big hit to follow that."
State (8-4) got three runs back in the third when Mia Davidson and Fa Leilua hit back-to-back homers for the third time this season. Madisyn Kennedy scored in the fourth on a Christian Quinn single to cut the lead to one, trailing 7-6.
"Again, I like the battle back from the offense," Ricketts said. "I thought they did a good job of not going away, continuing to score runs. We've got to do a better job of getting a shutdown inning after we score and keeping them off the board."
Baylor immediately added three runs in the bottom of the fourth to result in the final score. Grace Fagan took the loss, but Emily Williams threw 2.2 innings of no-hit ball, allowing just one walk, in relief.
Quotables
Samantha Ricketts on Emily Williams' performance this weekend: "I thought E-Dub really looked like herself again this weekend. She was attacking. She wasn't falling behind. She was mixing speeds. She really was the E-Dub we're used to seeing. I thought she was a bright spot for the bullpen. I'm excited to see her continue doing what we know she can do like she did over the weekend."
Samantha Ricketts on how this weekend prepares her team for SEC play:
"Four of the five games this weekend are true road games. Playing four of five true road games really gets us ready to go into a tough Southeastern Conference schedule. For us, getting used to that, getting used to bouncing back. They're not always going to be shutout, 1-run ballgames. We're going to have to be able to bounce back, score some runs and hold the opponent down. I really think it's something we can move forward from if we're learning from the battle and the lessons we've had early on."
Quick Hitters
Mia Davidson – Hit her 57th career home run … Extended her hitting streak to seven games, recording at least one hit in every game this week … Batted .471 (8-for-17) over the Lone Star State Invitational with five extra-base hits, including three home runs … Drove in seven runs over the weekend.Fa Leilua – Hit her 55th career home run and drew a walk … Scored twice … Five of her six hits over the weekend went for extra bases, including three home runs … Drove in six runs on the weekend.
Emily Williams – Tossed 2.2 no-hit innings, allowing one walk … Made three appearances, totaling 10.0 innings over the Lone Star State Invitational … Struck out 11 while posting a 2.10 ERA for the weekend.
Christian Quinn – Reached base in every plate appearance, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles … Also reached on a dropped third strike.
Chloe Malau'ulu – Has reached base safely in a career-best 16 straight games, including every game of 2021 … Drove in a run with a single and reached on a fielder's choice … Threw out a runner at the plate for her second outfield assist of the year.
Anna Kate Segars – Hit her first home run of the season.
Scoring Recap
Top 1Fa Leilua drew a two-out walk before Anna Kate Segars hit her first home run of the season to right-center field.
Mississippi State 2, Baylor 0
Bottom 1
The first six batters reached safely. Nicky Dawson led off with a single through the left side. Lou Gilbert beat out a bunt, and the throw from the pitcher was wild allowing the runners to take second and third. Goose McGlaun singled to right field, scoring Dawson, but Gilbert was thrown out at the plate for the first out. Josie Bower singled, and Aliyah Binford walked to load the bases. Ana Watson was hit by a pitch to force McGlaun home. A wild pitch allowed Bower to score and Binford to take third. Zadie LaValley hit a two-out double to score Binford.
Mississippi State 2, Baylor 5
Bottom 2
Dawson led off with a walk, and Gilbert laid down her second bunt single of the day. The runners executed a double steal, and the throw to third escaped into left allowing Dawson to score and Gilbert to take third. McGlaun drove in Gilbert with a single up the middle.
Mississippi State 2, Baylor 7
Top 3
Christian Quinn struck out but was safe at first as the third strike got away from the catcher. She took second on a ball in the dirt, and Mia Davidson drove her in on a two-run homer to left-center field. Leilua kept the momentum going with a homer of her own to nearly the same spot of the field, marking the third time the pair has gone back-to-back this season.
Mississippi State 5, Baylor 7
Top 4
With one out, Paige Cook was hit by a pitch. She was retired on a fielder's choice that allowed Madisyn Kennedy to reach. Kennedy advanced to second on a Quinn single and scored when Malau'ulu singled to right field.
Mississippi State 6, Baylor 7
Bottom 4
Five consecutive singles scored three runs to open the frame. Dawson went up the middle, then advanced to second on Gilbert's single to left. Dawson scored on McGlaun's single, and Gilbert moved to second. Bower then singled to center, scoring Gilbert. The throw went to third to try to get McGlaun, and Bower advanced to second. Binford then singled home McGlaun but was called out after the play for leaving first base early. Two ground balls ended the inning and stranded Bower at third.
Mississippi State 6, Baylor 10
On Deck
The Bulldogs remain on the road for another tough test against a ranked opponent. Mississippi State will travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Wednesday, March 3 to meet a familiar foe in No. 3 Alabama. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.Follow the Bulldogs
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mansell (2-0)
L: Fagan, Grace (1-1)
S: Rodoni (2)
Batting:
HR: Davidson, Mia 1 ; Leilua, Fa 1 ; Segars, Anna Kate 1
RBI: Malau'ulu, Chloe 1 ; Davidson, Mia 2 ; Leilua, Fa 1 ; Segars, Anna Kate 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Davidson, Mia 1 ; Leilua, Fa 2 ; Segars, Anna Kate 1 ; Kennedy, Madisyn 1 ; Quinn, Christian 1
HBP: Cook, Paige 1
Batting:
2B: LaValley 1
RBI: McGlaun 3 ; Bower 1 ; Binford 1 ; Watson 1 ; LaValley 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Dawson 3 ; Gilbert 2 ; McGlaun 2 ; Bower 1 ; Binford 1 ; Watson 1
SB: Dawson 1 ; Gilbert 1 ; Hott 1
HBP: Watson 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
3B/UTL
/ Softball
C/INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
SS/3B
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF/1B
/ Softball
P
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