Home Runs Hand No. 23 Bulldogs Loss In SEC Opener

Saturday, March 13

Oxford, Miss.

5:00 PM

Mississippi State

15-6, 0-1

Ole Miss

16-7, 1-0

Mississippi State

Ole Miss

Home Runs Hand No. 23 Bulldogs Loss In SEC Opener

March 13, 2021 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Brian Ogden, Assistant Director/Communications

OXFORD, Miss. – A pair of home runs did in No. 23 Mississippi State softball in a 6-0 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday night in the team's SEC opener.

The Rebels (16-7, 1-0 SEC) put up five runs in the fourth while batting around behind a three-run homer from Abbey Latham. Ole Miss then added a run on a solo home run from Paige Smith in the fifth.

"When both pitchers were rolling, I think they made some adjustments, and we've got to make sure we're still hitting our spots and making plays on defense," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We need to be able to limit the damage, so they don't get the big inning."

Emily Williams started the game and tossed 3.0 perfect innings while striking out four on just 30 pitches. She ran into trouble in the fourth, however, retiring just one batter before being replaced by Annie Willis.

Offensively, Carter Spexarth doubled in the fourth, and Chloe Malau'ulu hit a one-out single in the third as the Bulldogs collected just two hits. Fa Leilua drew a walk, and Mia Davidson was hit by a pitch. Christian Quinn reached on an error to give the Bulldogs (15-6, 0-1 SEC) five baserunners on the night.

The Rebels tried to add another run in the sixth, but Autumn Gillespie was thrown out at the plate, trying to stretch a triple into an inside the park home run.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on collecting just two hits:
"I think [Ole Miss' Anna Borgen] did a good job sticking to her game plan, and we have to be able to make adjustments quicker. We need to not start pressing when we get behind and continue to do what we do best, which is put pressure on the defense and swing the bat."

Quick Hitters

Fa Leilua – Drew her SEC-leading 20^th walk of the year.

Chloe Malau'ulu – Extended her reached-base streak to 26 games with a third-inning single.

Carter Spexarth – Doubled to extend her hitting streak to a career-best seven games … Batting .455 (10-for-22) in that span with five extra-base hits and nine RBIs.

Anna Kate Segars – Teamed up with Madisyn Kennedy and Mia Davidson to throw out a runner at the plate for her second outfield assist of the year … All three of MSU's starting outfielders now have a pair of outfield assists.

Emily Williams – Tossed 3.0 perfect innings on 30 pitches before allowing a run … Ran her consecutive scoreless innings streak to 24.1 innings, one short of her career-long, before allowing a three-run homer.

Scoring Recap

Bottom 4
Blaise Biringer led off with the Rebels first hit of the night, singling down the left field line. Following a flyout, Jessica Puk walked. Abbey Latham hit a three-run homer to center field. Sydney Gutierrez singled, and Autumn Gillespie reached on a fielder's choice to the third baseman. The throw to second got away, however, allowing Gutierrez to advance to third safely. With runners on the corners, Mkayla Allee singled to left, scoring Gutierrez. Aynslie Furbush pinch hit and was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Tate Whitley hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Gillespie from third.
Mississippi State 0, Ole Miss 5

Bottom 5
Paige Smith led off with a home run to left.
Mississippi State 0, Ole Miss 6

On Deck

The second game of the series will be played at 4 p.m. CT on Sunday. The game will be televised on SEC Network. Monday's series finale is set for a 6 p.m. first pitch on SEC Network.

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