No. 18 Mississippi State Returns Home For Bulldog Invitational

STARKVILLE – After a week on the road that saw it play three of its six games against ranked teams, No. 18 Mississippi State softball returns home on Friday to host the Bulldog Invitational (March 5-7).

MSU will play Ball State at 3 p.m. CT and Alcorn State at 5 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, the Bulldogs wrap up pool play with a 12:30 p.m. first pitch against Western Kentucky. State will then play in either the No. 1 seed vs. No. 4 seed game at 3:30 p.m. or the No. 2 seed vs. No. 3 seed game at 6 p.m.

Saturday's bracket play games have been pushed back 30 minutes from their originally scheduled start times to accommodate Senior Day ceremonies for two members of the 2020 class. Candace Denis and Lindsey Williams will be honored before the 3:30 p.m. contest on Saturday.

The tournament wraps up Sunday with the consolation game being played at 11 a.m. and the championship set for 1:30 p.m. All games featuring Mississippi State will be broadcast on SEC Network+.

MSU is ranked No. 18 in the latest Softball America poll. The Bulldogs are receiving votes in the NFCA Coaches' Poll and USA Softball/ESPN Poll.

Game Coverage

Leading Off

Let's Go Streaking: Chloe Malau'ulu is currently riding a career-long 18-game reached base streak. On Wednesday night, she tied her career-long hitting streak at six games.

Return To Form: Emily Williams has come on in relief in three of State's last four games and totaled 8.0 scoreless innings while allowing just three hits with nine strikeouts and two walks and holding opponents to a .115 batting average.

Milestone Watch: Fa Leilua needs just one home run to move into a tie for third in MSU history. Her next blast will be her 37th in the Maroon and White, tying Iyhia McMichael and Caroline Seitz. Mia Davidson's next homer will land her among the SEC's all-time top 10 home run hitters.

Aspen's Adjustment: After posting a 2.47 ERA in 11.1 innings with 13 strikeouts in 2020, Aspen Wesley leads MSU with a 1.95 ERA in 14.1 innings and has struck out 17 (8.3 K/7).

Back On Track: Davidson entered the Lone Star State Invitational batting just .217, but went 8-for-17 with five extra-base hits to raise her average to .325 (13-for-40). She had four RBIs entering the tournament and drove in seven runs over the weekend.

Thunder And Lightning: Davidson (57) and Leilua (55) rank fifth and seventh respectively among the NCAA's active career leaders in home runs. The duo is the one of two pairs of teammates in the country to boast 50-plus career homers (Arizona).

About the Opponents

Ball State (2-2, 0-0 MAC)
Rankings: NFCA Coaches - NR | USA Softball - NR | Softball America – NR | D1Softball - NR
Head coach: Lacy Wood | at BSU: 2-2 (1st Year) | Career: 2-2 (1st Year)
Batting Average: .286; Runs Per Game: 4.8; Hits Per Game: 8.5; Slugging Percentage: .420
ERA: 2.90; K/7: 6.0; K/BB Ratio: 1.1; Opp. Batting Avg: .178

Alcorn State (2-4, 0-0 SWAC)
Rankings: NFCA Coaches - NR | USA Softball - NR | Softball America – NR | D1Softball - NR
Head coach: Josef Rankin | at ALCN: 69-143 (6th Year) | Career: 69-143 (6th Year)
Batting Average: .169; Runs Per Game: 1.0; Hits Per Game: 2.3; Slugging Percentage: .193
ERA: 4.67; K/7: 3.3; K/BB Ratio: 0.9; Opp. Batting Avg: .304

Western Kentucky (6-1, 0-0 C-USA)
Rankings: NFCA Coaches - NR | USA Softball - NR | Softball America – NR | D1Softball - NR
Head coach: Amy Tudor | at WKU: 208-144-1 (8th Year) | Career: 425-350-2 (17th Year)
Batting Average: .347; Runs Per Game: 8.3; Hits Per Game: 9.7; Slugging Percentage: .592
ERA: 2.23; K/7: 7.2; K/BB Ratio: 2.8; Opp. Batting Avg: .229

Admission/Attendance Guidelines

Mississippi State has optimized capacity at Nusz Park in response to the updates in Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves' latest Executive Order while maintaining appropriate health and safety standards. The health and safety of student-athletes, staff and the Mississippi State community remain of the utmost importance. MSU intends to strike a necessary balance between protecting our student-athletes, staff, and fans and expanded capacity.

Admission to all softball remains free while a limited number of seats will remain closed to ensure a buffer zone around the playing surface in accordance with SEC guidelines. Per MSU guidelines, face coverings over the nose and mouth shall be required for all guests during ingress, egress, and movement throughout the stadium as well as any time guests are unable to maintain the recommended physical distance from others who are not in their same household or when actively eating or drinking.

All guests, employees and stadium workers will conduct self-screening prior to leaving home. Per MSU guidelines, this should include an "at-home" temperature check, and review of potential COVID-19 symptoms, including cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, muscle pains, sore throat, and a new loss of taste or smell. If anyone has any of these symptoms or a fever of greater than 100.4 degrees, the person should stay home.

State Stand-Ins are available for purchase at MaroonMemories.com. For more information visit: HailState.com/gameday.

A transit shuttle will run to Nusz Park from the Zacharias Village parking lot on all three days. Shuttles will begin operating at 3 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday. Masks are required on the shuttle, and the service will be offered until the end of the final event of the day.

On Deck

The Bulldogs will play two-midweek games next week, traveling to Alabama State on Tuesday, March 9 and hosting Memphis on Wednesday, March 10. First pitch in Montgomery, Alabama, is set for 4 p.m., while the game in Nusz Park will begin at 6 p.m. and air on SEC Network+.

Follow the Bulldogs

For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."

No. 18 Mississippi State Returns Home For Bulldog Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mia Davidson

Candace Denis

Fa Leilua

Chloe Malau'ulu

Aspen Wesley

Emily Williams

Lindsey Williams

Mississippi State University Athletics

No. 18 Mississippi State Returns Home For Bulldog Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mia Davidson

Candace Denis

Fa Leilua

Chloe Malau'ulu

Aspen Wesley

Emily Williams

Lindsey Williams

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