Bulldogs Lose Series Final At Ole Miss

Monday, March 15

Oxford, Miss.

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

15-8, 0-3

Ole Miss

17-7, 3-0

Mississippi State

Ole Miss

Bulldogs Lose Series Final At Ole Miss

March 15, 2021 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

OXFORD, Miss. – No. 23 Mississippi State lost, 8-0 in five innings, to Ole Miss on Monday in the series finale. Paige Cook and Montana Davidson provided MSU's only hits in the ballgame.

"Not ideal, I don't think we played to our potential," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We've got to hit a little better, pitch a little better, defense, everything that you need to be working. Ole Miss played a great game. I thought they were really good in the box and on the mound, so a lot of credit to them. I think overall, for us, we need to be a bit more on the attack, a little more confident overall. It's more of a mentality shift that we're still working through. I don't think it's anything physical with us."

The Rebels (18-7, 3-0 SEC) opened the scoring with a leadoff homer in the second inning and pushed across another run with a walk and a double. Ole Miss added another in the fourth before plating five in the fifth to result in the final score.

Emily Williams started for MSU (15-8, 0-3 SEC) and tossed the first 4.0 innings. Aspen Wesley entered to face five batters in the fifth before Williams returned to the circle.

Chloe Malau'ulu was hit by two pitches in her three trips to the plate. The Bulldogs best chance to score came in the top of the fifth when Paige Cook led off with a single followed by a Montana Davidson double. Cook was thrown out at the plate on a fielder's choice before a strikeout and grounder up the middle ended the inning.

"You've got to capitalize on opportunities when you have them, especially with the heart of our order," Ricketts added. "I think that's kind of the story of the weekend, not being able to capitalize and execute. Bottom line is we have to execute better. It doesn't need to be a home run. I think we can take a sac fly or something a little more small ball and play situationally to try to execute more when we have opportunities on the bases."

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on if the time off from SEC play affected her team:
"I didn't really expect it to, but it just seemed different. I think that's something we're going to go back to work on. One of the things that got brought up in the postgame meeting was being thankful for every day because we know what it means for it to be taken away. We didn't get to play an SEC series last year, so we need to really be appreciative of the opportunity. You appreciate your opportunity by giving it your best effort."

Quick Hitters

Paige Cook – Singled in the fifth.

Montana Davidson – Hit a double in the fifth, her fourth of the year and sixth extra-base hit.

Chloe Malau'ulu – Extended her reached-base streak to 28 games with two hit-by-pitches … Streak is tied for the seventh-longest in program history.

Emily Williams – Threw 4.0 innings then re-entered to throw the final 0.1 innings … Posted five strikeouts.

Scoring Recap

Bottom 1
Autumn Gillespie led off with a home run. With one out, Mikayla Allee walked. Following a flyout, Tate Whitley doubled to center field to score Allee.
Mississippi State 0, Ole Miss 2

Bottom 4
Gillespie was hit by a pitch to open the inning. With one out, Allee and Aynslie Furbush drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Whitley hit a sacrifice fly to score Gillespie.
Mississippi State 0, Ole Miss 3

Bottom 5
Paige Smith led off with a walk and was pinch ran for by Maddi Banks. Abbey Latham doubled to center field to put runners on second and third. Sydney Gutierrez hit an infield single that scored Banks and put runners on the corners. Gillespie tripled down the right-field line to score both runners then came home on an Allee single to right-center. Following a pop out, Whitley walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Blaise Biringer singled up the middle to score Allee.
Mississippi State 0, Ole Miss 8

On Deck

The Bulldogs travel to Samford on March 17 for a 6 p.m. first pitch. The game is set to be streamed on ESPN+.

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