Willis Tosses 23rd No-Hitter at Louisiana Tech, State Falls To No. 1 Oklahoma

Saturday, April 10

Ruston, La.

10:00 AM

Mississippi State

20-15

Louisiana Tech

13-17

Mississippi State

Louisiana Tech

Willis Tosses 23rd No-Hitter at Louisiana Tech, State Falls To No. 1 Oklahoma

April 10, 2021 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 at Louisiana Tech Box Score (PDF)vs. Oklahoma Box Score (PDF)

By: Brian Ogden, Assistant Director/Communications

RUSTON, La. – Mississippi State softball split a pair of games on Saturday, defeating Louisiana Tech, 2-0, before falling to No. 1 Oklahoma, 9-0.

Annie Willis tossed the 23^rd no-hitter in school history against the Lady Techsters, striking out 10 and allowing just two baserunners on a walk and hit-by-pitch.

"Honestly, I didn't really know I had that until the very last pitch of the last inning," Willis said. "I kind of just felt a sense of calmness throughout our entire team. Pitch-by-pitch we were all locked in, every single pitch, every single inning. It was a great, solid team win altogether."

The Lady Techsters (13-17, 3-1 C-USA) nearly broke up Willis' bid in the bottom of the sixth, but Brylie St. Clair made a long running grab at the wall in the left-center field gap to keep them out of the hit column.

Carter Spexarth provided all the offense on the day. In the first inning, Chloe Malau'ulu was hit by a pitch and stole second before Spexarth drove her in with a single up the middle. In the sixth inning, she hit a solo home run.

"I thought [Willis] really did a good job," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "Really her first inning wasn't as sharp. I thought she got stronger as she went on. I think she went 3-2 on the first batter of the game. I thought she settled down a little bit and just started attacking and getting ahead. She ended up with four innings of 15 pitches or less, which is key to make sure she can keep rolling without too high of a pitch count at the end."

State's (20-16, 0-9 SEC) second game of the day went just five innings. The No. 1 Sooners (29-0, 6-0 Big 12) hung eight runs on the board in the third inning and tacked on a ninth in the fourth. A bases-loaded single opened the scoring before three straight wild pitches unloaded the bases. A sacrifice fly and a three-run homer rounded out the third inning. An RBI double plated Oklahoma's final run.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on when she realized Annie Willis was throwing a no-hitter:
"It was pretty early. Something about that scoreboard, I guess it was just right in my face. In about the fourth inning, I'm like, 'Okay, she still hasn't given up a hit. Let's see how far we can go with this.' I think probably from about the fourth inning on, I was watching that."

Samantha Ricketts on Carter Spexarth:
"I really like the way Carter Spexarth swung the bat for us today. I think she gets overlooked quite a bit hitting behind Mia [Davidson] and Fa [Leilua]. For her to have the two big hits for us in Game 1 to give Annie some run support, particularly in the first inning since we've struggled scoring early lately. I really like her confidence in the box. She doesn't get too big and try to do too much when they walk Fa in front of her, so she's one that definitely stands out."

Annie Willis on Brylie St. Clair's catch:
"I didn't think it was going out, but I definitely thought it was possibly a ball to the wall. Then I saw Brylie and [Christian] Quinn both, and I knew those are two of our fastest people on the team. I knew that one of them was going to get it. When Brylie was just throwing her glove up, I said, 'Okay, she's got it. We're good.'"

Annie Willis on what led to her 10 strikeouts:
"Just executing. I think in the first few innings I was getting behind a lot. We figured out that it works better if I get ahead each pitch. Jackie [McKenna] and I just looked at each other and said, 'Alright, let's attack.' Having the confidence in the defense behind me helped me feel relaxed."

Quick Hitters

Carter Spexarth – Drove in both runs against Louisiana Tech … Also had State's lone hit against Oklahoma … Finished the day 3-for-5 … Made her first start in right field since March 26, 2019 … Hit her fifth home run of the season which is a new single-season high … Now tied for the team lead with nine multi-hit games in 2021.

Brylie St. Clair – Went 1-for-3 against the Lady Techsters … Made an impressive running catch at the wall to preserve Annie Willis' no-hit bid.

Annie Willis – Threw her second no-hitter in Maroon and White … Now the seventh Bulldog with multiple no-hitters in her career and the first to throw multiple 7.0 inning no-hitters … Struck out 10, marking her fifth 10-strikeout game as a Bulldog.

No-Hitters – Willis' no-hitter was the 23^rd in program history … State has thrown at least one no-hitter in every season since 2015 … Willis has thrown each of the last two … Willis and Alyssa Loza are active Bulldogs with a no-hitter in their careers.

at Louisiana Tech Scoring Recap

Top 1
Chloe Malau'ulu was hit by a pitch to open the ballgame. She stole second on a Fa Leilua strikeout. With two outs, Carter Spexarth singled up the middle to bring her home.
Mississippi State 1, Louisiana Tech 0

Top 6
Spexarth hit a solo home run with one out.
Mississippi State 2, Louisiana Tech 0

vs. Oklahoma Scoring Recap

Bottom 3
Jocelyn Alo singled with one out. Rylie Boone pinch ran and stole second. Kinzie Hansen reached on an error by the shortstop. Grace Lyons hit a grounder to shortstop, but the throw to third pulled the third baseman off the bag to load the bases. Lynnsie Elam singled to score Boone. Three straight wild pitches then allowed all three runners to score. Jayda Coleman beat out a bunt single, and Taylon Snow was hit by a pitch. Jana Johns walked to load the bases. Grace Green hit a sacrifice fly to score Coleman. Tiare Jennings hit a three-run homer.
Mississippi State 0, Oklahoma 8

Bottom 4
Nicole Mendes led off with a single. Lyons brought her home with a double.
Mississippi State 0, Oklahoma 9

On Deck

MSU will travel to Samford on Tuesday, April 13 for a makeup contest. First pitch is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be streamed on ESPN+. The Bulldogs return home on Wednesday, April 14 to host Southern Miss at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.

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