Friday, April 23
Starkville
6:00 PM
Mississippi State
24-20, 0-13
5
vs
7
Texas A&M
30-13, 7-9
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5
6
7
R
H
E
Texas A&M
0
0
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0
7
7
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Mississippi State
0
0
0
2
0
0
3
5
7
0
Leilua Homers Twice But Late Rally Falls Short
April 23, 2021 | Softball
STARKVILLE – Fa Leilua and Carter Spexarth homered on consecutive pitches as Mississippi State rallied for three runs in the seventh, but it was not enough as the Bulldogs fell to Texas A&M, 7-5, on Friday night.
For Leilua it was her second home run of the night and plated her second and third RBIs of the contest, but a three-run homer from the Aggies' Haley Lee in the top of the sixth proved to be the difference as Texas A&M held off the late surge.
"I thought they did a great job again of fighting in the late innings," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "It's good to see we're not giving up. We're continuing to scratch and claw our way back, but bottom line is we've got to fight a little bit earlier on. In the last few games, it's taken us a few innings to get into a groove, and we're running out of time to do it when we start it in the late innings."
Texas A&M (30-13, 7-9 SEC) scored twice in the third and added runs in the fourth and fifth before Lee's home run.
"I think we're looking for the first time through the lineup to have a little bit better at-bats, making them work a little bit harder on the mound," Ricketts added. "But credit to A&M, they did a great job of doing the opposite, coming out and attacking from the first pitch of the game and making us fight back the entire time putting us in a hole there."
The Bulldogs (24-20, 0-13 SEC) also scored in the bottom of the fourth when Leilua led off with a home run. Spexarth was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a single from Madisyn Kennedy. State had a chance to tie the game at three in that frame, but left Mia Davidson stranded on third.
"Bottom line is we have to attack the zone. We have to find the zone, figure out where [the umpire] is calling and be able to stay there. I think walking the seven, eight and nine-hole batters really comes back to hurt you when you have runners on for the top of the order every time. [We] need to attack, especially the bottom half of the lineup. If we're going to pitch around anybody and put them on, it needs to be the big hitters at the top, and I think we were a little bit backwards with that today."
Samantha Ricketts on Fa Leilua:
"Fa is at her best in pressure situations, which is tough to do. She knows what she means to this team, and she knows that we're going to go as she goes. She's doing everything she can to fight for us in her last year, which I'm really proud of her to continue to do that and not press and try to do too much at the same time."
Madisyn Kennedy – Drove in State's second run of the game with a single off the pitcher.
Fa Leilua – Hit a pair of home runs for her sixth career multi-homer game … Marked her team-leading 10th multi-RBI game of the year and the 54th of her career.
Carter Spexarth – Hit her ninth home of the year in the bottom of the seventh … The blast was the next pitch following Leilua's second shot and gave MSU six back-to-back homers this year … Now has four home runs in her last three games.
Aspen Wesley – Struck out two without allowing a hit in relief.
With two outs, Makinzy Herzog and Morgan Smith hit back-to-back home runs.
Texas A&M 2, Mississippi State 0
Top 4
With one out, Ashlynn Walls, Rylen Wiggins and Trinity Cannon were issued three straight walks to load the bases. Walls scored when Kelbi Fortenberry grounded out to shortstop.
Texas A&M 3, Mississippi State 0
Bottom 4
Fa Leilua led off with a homer down the left field line. After Carter Spexarth was hit by a pinch, Brylie St. Clair pinch ran at first. St. Clair advanced to second when Mia Davidson was also hit by a pitch. Paige Cook moved the runners up 60 feet with a sacrifice bunt. St. Clair scored on a single from Madisyn Kennedy.
Texas A&M 3, Mississippi State 2
Top 5
Herzog singled through the left side before scoring on a Bre Warren double.
Texas A&M 4, Mississippi State 2
Top 6
Cannon reached on a hit-by-pitch and advanced to second on a Fortenberry walk. Madi Jatzlau pinch ran for Cannon and second before Haley Lee hit a three-run homer.
Texas A&M 7, Mississippi State 2
Bottom 7
Kiki Edwards was hit by a pitch to open the inning. Montana Davidson re-entered to run for Edwards at first but was out at second when Chloe Malau'ulu reached on a fielder's choice. Malau'ulu scored on Leilua's second home run of the game. Carter Spexarth homered to center field on the next pitch.
Texas A&M 7, Mississippi State 5
For Leilua it was her second home run of the night and plated her second and third RBIs of the contest, but a three-run homer from the Aggies' Haley Lee in the top of the sixth proved to be the difference as Texas A&M held off the late surge.
"I thought they did a great job again of fighting in the late innings," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "It's good to see we're not giving up. We're continuing to scratch and claw our way back, but bottom line is we've got to fight a little bit earlier on. In the last few games, it's taken us a few innings to get into a groove, and we're running out of time to do it when we start it in the late innings."
Texas A&M (30-13, 7-9 SEC) scored twice in the third and added runs in the fourth and fifth before Lee's home run.
"I think we're looking for the first time through the lineup to have a little bit better at-bats, making them work a little bit harder on the mound," Ricketts added. "But credit to A&M, they did a great job of doing the opposite, coming out and attacking from the first pitch of the game and making us fight back the entire time putting us in a hole there."
The Bulldogs (24-20, 0-13 SEC) also scored in the bottom of the fourth when Leilua led off with a home run. Spexarth was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a single from Madisyn Kennedy. State had a chance to tie the game at three in that frame, but left Mia Davidson stranded on third.
Quotables
Samantha Ricketts on MSU's pitching:"Bottom line is we have to attack the zone. We have to find the zone, figure out where [the umpire] is calling and be able to stay there. I think walking the seven, eight and nine-hole batters really comes back to hurt you when you have runners on for the top of the order every time. [We] need to attack, especially the bottom half of the lineup. If we're going to pitch around anybody and put them on, it needs to be the big hitters at the top, and I think we were a little bit backwards with that today."
Samantha Ricketts on Fa Leilua:
"Fa is at her best in pressure situations, which is tough to do. She knows what she means to this team, and she knows that we're going to go as she goes. She's doing everything she can to fight for us in her last year, which I'm really proud of her to continue to do that and not press and try to do too much at the same time."
Quick Hitters
We Don't Move – State matched its season high with four hit by pitches in the game, tying its efforts against Florida (3/20) and at Alabama State (3/9) … Kiki Edwards was hit by a pitch in a pinch-hit at-bat for the second time … MSU entered the game ranked sixth nationally in hit-by-pitches and has now been plunked 49 times in 2021.Madisyn Kennedy – Drove in State's second run of the game with a single off the pitcher.
Fa Leilua – Hit a pair of home runs for her sixth career multi-homer game … Marked her team-leading 10th multi-RBI game of the year and the 54th of her career.
Carter Spexarth – Hit her ninth home of the year in the bottom of the seventh … The blast was the next pitch following Leilua's second shot and gave MSU six back-to-back homers this year … Now has four home runs in her last three games.
Aspen Wesley – Struck out two without allowing a hit in relief.
Scoring Recap
Top 3With two outs, Makinzy Herzog and Morgan Smith hit back-to-back home runs.
Texas A&M 2, Mississippi State 0
Top 4
With one out, Ashlynn Walls, Rylen Wiggins and Trinity Cannon were issued three straight walks to load the bases. Walls scored when Kelbi Fortenberry grounded out to shortstop.
Texas A&M 3, Mississippi State 0
Bottom 4
Fa Leilua led off with a homer down the left field line. After Carter Spexarth was hit by a pinch, Brylie St. Clair pinch ran at first. St. Clair advanced to second when Mia Davidson was also hit by a pitch. Paige Cook moved the runners up 60 feet with a sacrifice bunt. St. Clair scored on a single from Madisyn Kennedy.
Texas A&M 3, Mississippi State 2
Top 5
Herzog singled through the left side before scoring on a Bre Warren double.
Texas A&M 4, Mississippi State 2
Top 6
Cannon reached on a hit-by-pitch and advanced to second on a Fortenberry walk. Madi Jatzlau pinch ran for Cannon and second before Haley Lee hit a three-run homer.
Texas A&M 7, Mississippi State 2
Bottom 7
Kiki Edwards was hit by a pitch to open the inning. Montana Davidson re-entered to run for Edwards at first but was out at second when Chloe Malau'ulu reached on a fielder's choice. Malau'ulu scored on Leilua's second home run of the game. Carter Spexarth homered to center field on the next pitch.
Texas A&M 7, Mississippi State 5
On Deck
Game 2 of the series is set for a 2 p.m. CT first pitch on Saturday. The contest will be televised nationally 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: Herzog, Makinzy (11-3)
L: Willis, Annie (13-7)
Batting:
2B: Warren, Bre 2
HR: Lee, Haley 1 ; Herzog, Makinzy 1 ; Smith, Morgan 1
RBI: Lee, Haley 3 ; Herzog, Makinzy 1 ; Smith, Morgan 1 ; Warren, Bre 1 ; Fortenberry, Kelbi 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lee, Haley 1 ; Herzog, Makinzy 2 ; Smith, Morgan 1 ; Walls, Ashlynn 1 ; Jatzlau, Madi 1 ; Fortenberry, Kelbi 1
HBP: Cannon, Trinity 1
Batting:
HR: Leilua, Fa 2 ; Spexarth, Carter 1
RBI: Leilua, Fa 3 ; Spexarth, Carter 1 ; Kennedy, Madisyn 1
SH: Cook, Paige 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Malau'ulu, Chloe 1 ; Leilua, Fa 2 ; Spexarth, Carter 1 ; St. Clair, Brylie 1
HBP: Spexarth, Carter 1 ; Davidson, Mia 1 ; Purvis, Addison 1 ; Edwards, Kiki 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
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0
H
2
RBI
0
rf/dp
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
3B/UTL
/ Softball
C/INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
SS/3B
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
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OF
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