Mississippi State Drops Series Finale Against Texas A&M

Sunday, April 25

Starkville

1:00 PM

Mississippi State

25-21, 1-14

Texas A&M

31-14, 8-10

Texas A&M

Mississippi State

Mississippi State Drops Series Finale Against Texas A&M

April 25, 2021 | Softball

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By: Brian Ogden, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State softball dropped the rubber match of its series with Texas A&M on Sunday, 8-1. The Bulldogs collected three hits and scored their lone run on a fielder's choice.

Texas A&M (31-14, 8-10 SEC) took the lead in the third when Makinzy Herzog led off with a homer. A double and a base hit plated a second Aggie run. Herzog homered again in the fourth, before State (25-21, 1-14 SEC) scored in the bottom of the fifth.

Addison Purvis led off that inning with a single, and Christian Quinn pinch ran for her. Quinn would score on a ground ball to second base when the Aggies tried to turn a double play on Chloe Malau'ulu.

"We didn't win the freebie war today, and that's a big part of why we didn't win the game," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "Five walks and two errors, and you just can't give SEC teams extra outs. We saw those two errors immediately come back to hurt us in the seventh. That and the home runs. We knew they were a team that you have to keep in the ballpark, and we didn't do that today."

The Aggies hung four runs on the board in the seventh, after loading the bases with two outs. An error allowed a run to score and kept the inning alive. A second error on a relay home following a base hit allowed runners to advance.

Annie Willis started and went 3.0 innings allowing two runs. Emily Williams threw all but the final batter of the game for MSU, striking out seven. Aspen Wesley entered to face one batter in the seventh and induced an inning-ending pop-up.

Quick Hitters

Mia Davidson – Singled for State's first hit in the game.

Addison Purvis – Went 1-for-2 with a walk ... Walk led to MSU's only run after she was pinch run for.

Montana Davidson – Went 1-for-2 with a walk.

Chloe Malau'ulu – Drove in a run and was hit by a pitch … Entered the weekend tied for 13^th in the nation with 13 hit-by-pitches and is now at 14.

Scoring Recap

Top 3
Makinzy Herzog homered to left field to open the inning. Morgan Smith doubled down the left field line. Star Ferguson pinch ran for Smith and scored on a Shaylee Akerman single.
Texas A&M 2, Mississippi State 0

Top 4
Herzog homered to center field with one out.
Texas A&M 3, Mississippi State 0

Bottom 5
Addison Purvis singled through the left side. Christian Quinn pinch ran for Purvis and advanced to second on a wild pitch. She then advanced to third on a Montana Davidson single. Quinn scored when Chloe Malau'ulu reached on a fielder's choice as the shortstop made a throwing error while trying to turn a double play.
Texas A&M 3, Mississippi State 1

Top 6
Kelbi Fortenberry singled to center field. Fortenberry advanced to second on a Haley Lee single. Herzog walked to load the bases. Fortenberry scored on a Bre Warren walk.
Texas A&M 4, Mississippi State 1

Top 7
Fortenberry beat out a bunt single. She scored on a home run from Lee. Herzog walked and Madi Jatzlau entered to pinch run. Jatzlau advanced to second when Smith reached on an error by the second baseman. Shaylee Ackerman struck out but reached first on a drop third strike to load the bases. Jatzlau and Smith then scored on a base hit from Warren.
Texas A&M 8, Mississippi State 1

On Deck

The Bulldogs are scheduled to travel to South Carolina next weekend for three games, beginning Friday, April 30. First pitch of the series opener will be at 5 p.m. CT, and the contest will air on SEC Network+.

Follow the Bulldogs

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