Saturday, March 27
Fayetteville, Ark.
1:00 PM
Mississippi State
15-13, 0-8
7
at
8
#15 Arkansas
27-3, 8-0
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2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Mississippi State
1
3
2
0
0
1
0
7
10
0
Arkansas
0
2
4
2
0
0
X
8
8
2
Bulldogs’ Rally Falls Short In 8-7 Loss At No. 12 Arkansas
March 27, 2021 | Softball
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Mississippi State's softball team plated seven runs on Saturday but came up one short, falling, 8-7, to No. 12 Arkansas.
The Bulldog bats broke out in dramatic fashion and ended State's scoring drought in the top of the first. MSU (15-13, 0-8 SEC) added runs in each of the first three frames to build a 6-2 lead. Eight of nine Bulldogs reached base safely, and MSU collected 10 hits to Arkansas' eight.
"It was fun to finally see the ball start to drop," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We've been preaching sticking with the process, having quality at-bats and not getting too big in big moments. I thought they did a great job of being focused from the first inning on and being able to score first."
Arkansas (27-3, 8-0 SEC) responded in the second, third and fourth, however, plating multiple runs in each frame to take an 8-6 lead in the ballgame. The Razorbacks' leadoff hitter reached in every inning except the sixth. State added a run in the top of the sixth to result in the final score.
Brylie St. Clair was a spark out of the nine hole. She went 2-for-2 with a double and bunt single and scored twice. The sophomore was also hit by a pitch to reach base in every plate appearance. Carter Spexarth drove in Paige Cook for the game's first run. Cook reached on errors and scored twice and doubled home a run in the sixth.
Grace Fagan saw her first SEC action of the year out of the bullpen, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings with one hit allowed.
"As soon as Carter [Spexarth] hit that ball, I just knew it was down, so I knew I was running and I was going to score. I thought it was going to fire up the team and get us going. It has been a long time. I knew as soon as that run scored that we were going to produce hits and have a great game. It really fired up me and everybody."
Samantha Ricketts on the near comeback:
"I think we're fighting. They definitely have not gone away yet. We're just still waiting to put together all three phases. We need the hitters to show up when the pitchers show up and vice versa. That's what we're going to continue to work for and keep focusing on, the little things, the details, putting it all together."
Mia Davidson – Hit the 59th home run of her career to take sole possession of third place in MSU baseball and softball history behind Will Clark (61) and Rafael Palmeiro (67).
Grace Fagan – Threw 1.1 innings in relief allowing one hit and no runs.
Madisyn Kennedy – Was hit by a pitch and doubled home a run in the ballgame … Also scored once.
Fa Leilua – Singled twice and drove in a run.
Chloe Malau'ulu – Made a diving catch in foul ground in the sixth.
Brylie St. Clair – Was 2-for-2 with a double and bunt single … Scored twice … Also was hit by a pitch.
Emily Williams – Recorded the 101st looking strikeout of her career … Now one shy of tying the MSU career record set by Alison Owen (102, 2013-14) … Re-entered in the seventh and threw a three-up, three-down inning.
Paige Cook reached on a ball off the third baseman's glove that was deep in the five-six hole with one out. Fa Leilua singled to push Cook to second. With two outs, Carter Spexarth singled into shallow left field to score Cook from second.
Mississippi State 1, Arkansas 0
Top 2
With one out, Madisyn Kennedy was hit by a pitch. Brylie St. Clair then doubled down the left-field line to put runners on second and third. With two outs, Cook reached on a throwing error that sailed over the first baseman's head allowing both runners to score and Cook to take second. Cook scored on a flair into right from Fa Leilua, who was caught in a rundown to end the inning.
Mississippi State 4, Arkansas 0
Bottom 2
Linnie Malkin singled to open the inning. She advanced to second on a ground out from Aly Manzo. Lauren Graves was hit by a pitch, and Keely Huffine walked to load the bases. Rylin Hedgecock pinch hit and singled to left field. Sam Torres hit a ground ball to shortstop, but Marlene Friedman, pinch running, beat the throw home to score from third.
Mississippi State 4, Arkansas 2
Top 3
Mia Davidson led off with a home run to center field. With two outs, Montana Davidson singled to center field. Kennedy then doubled into the left-center gap to drive Montana Davidson home from first.
Mississippi State 6, Arkansas 2
Bottom 3
Kayla Green led off with a walk followed by a single from Malkin. Manzo singled to load the bases. Graves walked to bring home a run before a pop up gave MSU its first out. Nicole Duncan walked to score another run. Torres singled into right to bring home Manzo. Hannah McEwen was hit by a pitch, scoring Graves.
Mississippi State 6, Arkansas 6
Bottom 4
Malkin homered on the second pitch of the inning. With two outs, Huffine singled and Duncan was hit by a pitch. Torres scored Huffine with a single that fell in shallow left field.
Mississippi State 6, Arkansas 8
Top 6
With one out, St. Clair beat out a bunt single. Malau'ulu also singled to put two on base. A Cook double scored St. Clair from second.
Mississippi State 7, Arkansas 8
The Bulldog bats broke out in dramatic fashion and ended State's scoring drought in the top of the first. MSU (15-13, 0-8 SEC) added runs in each of the first three frames to build a 6-2 lead. Eight of nine Bulldogs reached base safely, and MSU collected 10 hits to Arkansas' eight.
"It was fun to finally see the ball start to drop," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We've been preaching sticking with the process, having quality at-bats and not getting too big in big moments. I thought they did a great job of being focused from the first inning on and being able to score first."
Arkansas (27-3, 8-0 SEC) responded in the second, third and fourth, however, plating multiple runs in each frame to take an 8-6 lead in the ballgame. The Razorbacks' leadoff hitter reached in every inning except the sixth. State added a run in the top of the sixth to result in the final score.
Brylie St. Clair was a spark out of the nine hole. She went 2-for-2 with a double and bunt single and scored twice. The sophomore was also hit by a pitch to reach base in every plate appearance. Carter Spexarth drove in Paige Cook for the game's first run. Cook reached on errors and scored twice and doubled home a run in the sixth.
Grace Fagan saw her first SEC action of the year out of the bullpen, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings with one hit allowed.
Quotables
Paige Cook on scoring MSU's first run:"As soon as Carter [Spexarth] hit that ball, I just knew it was down, so I knew I was running and I was going to score. I thought it was going to fire up the team and get us going. It has been a long time. I knew as soon as that run scored that we were going to produce hits and have a great game. It really fired up me and everybody."
Samantha Ricketts on the near comeback:
"I think we're fighting. They definitely have not gone away yet. We're just still waiting to put together all three phases. We need the hitters to show up when the pitchers show up and vice versa. That's what we're going to continue to work for and keep focusing on, the little things, the details, putting it all together."
Quick Hitters
Paige Cook – Reached twice on errors, scoring on both trips around the bases … Hit an RBI double in the sixth … Led the team with three assists in the game.Mia Davidson – Hit the 59th home run of her career to take sole possession of third place in MSU baseball and softball history behind Will Clark (61) and Rafael Palmeiro (67).
Grace Fagan – Threw 1.1 innings in relief allowing one hit and no runs.
Madisyn Kennedy – Was hit by a pitch and doubled home a run in the ballgame … Also scored once.
Fa Leilua – Singled twice and drove in a run.
Chloe Malau'ulu – Made a diving catch in foul ground in the sixth.
Brylie St. Clair – Was 2-for-2 with a double and bunt single … Scored twice … Also was hit by a pitch.
Emily Williams – Recorded the 101st looking strikeout of her career … Now one shy of tying the MSU career record set by Alison Owen (102, 2013-14) … Re-entered in the seventh and threw a three-up, three-down inning.
Scoring Recap
Top 1Paige Cook reached on a ball off the third baseman's glove that was deep in the five-six hole with one out. Fa Leilua singled to push Cook to second. With two outs, Carter Spexarth singled into shallow left field to score Cook from second.
Mississippi State 1, Arkansas 0
Top 2
With one out, Madisyn Kennedy was hit by a pitch. Brylie St. Clair then doubled down the left-field line to put runners on second and third. With two outs, Cook reached on a throwing error that sailed over the first baseman's head allowing both runners to score and Cook to take second. Cook scored on a flair into right from Fa Leilua, who was caught in a rundown to end the inning.
Mississippi State 4, Arkansas 0
Bottom 2
Linnie Malkin singled to open the inning. She advanced to second on a ground out from Aly Manzo. Lauren Graves was hit by a pitch, and Keely Huffine walked to load the bases. Rylin Hedgecock pinch hit and singled to left field. Sam Torres hit a ground ball to shortstop, but Marlene Friedman, pinch running, beat the throw home to score from third.
Mississippi State 4, Arkansas 2
Top 3
Mia Davidson led off with a home run to center field. With two outs, Montana Davidson singled to center field. Kennedy then doubled into the left-center gap to drive Montana Davidson home from first.
Mississippi State 6, Arkansas 2
Bottom 3
Kayla Green led off with a walk followed by a single from Malkin. Manzo singled to load the bases. Graves walked to bring home a run before a pop up gave MSU its first out. Nicole Duncan walked to score another run. Torres singled into right to bring home Manzo. Hannah McEwen was hit by a pitch, scoring Graves.
Mississippi State 6, Arkansas 6
Bottom 4
Malkin homered on the second pitch of the inning. With two outs, Huffine singled and Duncan was hit by a pitch. Torres scored Huffine with a single that fell in shallow left field.
Mississippi State 6, Arkansas 8
Top 6
With one out, St. Clair beat out a bunt single. Malau'ulu also singled to put two on base. A Cook double scored St. Clair from second.
Mississippi State 7, Arkansas 8
On Deck
The Bulldogs and Razorbacks play the final game of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast 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: Bloom (6-1)
L: Wesley, Aspen (2-4)
S: Haff (3)
Batting:
2B: Cook, Paige 1 ; Kennedy, Madisyn 1 ; St. Clair, Brylie 1
HR: Davidson, Mia 1
RBI: Cook, Paige 1 ; Leilua, Fa 1 ; Davidson, Mia 1 ; Spexarth, Carter 1 ; Kennedy, Madisyn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cook, Paige 2 ; Davidson, Mia 1 ; Davidson, Montana 1 ; Kennedy, Madisyn 1 ; St. Clair, Brylie 2
HBP: Kennedy, Madisyn 1 ; St. Clair, Brylie 1
Batting:
HR: Malkin 1
RBI: Torres 3 ; McEwen 1 ; Malkin 1 ; Graves 1 ; Hedgecock 1 ; Duncan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Green 1 ; Malkin 3 ; Manzo 1 ; Graves 1 ; Cesena 1 ; Huffine 1
HBP: McEwen 1 ; Graves 1 ; Duncan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
3B/UTL
/ Softball
C/INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
SS/3B
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
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