Monday, March 14
Gainesville, Fla.
6:00 PM
Mississippi State
16-10, 1-2
0
at
3
#4 Florida
23-2, 2-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Mississippi State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
1
Florida
0
0
0
0
0
3
X
3
4
0
Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
State Drops Heartbreaker In Monday Night Pitcher’s Duel
March 14, 2022 | Softball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Mississippi State took a scoreless contest at No. 4 Florida into the bottom of the sixth, but a pair of Gators homers gave the home team a 3-0 victory.
MSU (16-10, 1-2 SEC) had just been kept of the scoreboard on the previous play. Pinch runner Phoebe Florian was thrown out at the plate for the final out of the top of the sixth while trying to score on Chloe Malau'ulu's single.
In the bottom of the frame, Florida's (23-2, 2-1 SEC) Kendra Falby hit a ball off the left-center field wall just over a leaping Malau'ulu. The ball bounded away from center fielder Brylie St. Clair, and Falby raced home for an inside-the-park homer. Two batters later, Skylar Wallace hit a two-run homer to result in the final score.
"I think the takeaway is that we came out and competed every game in all three phases," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "That's been a focus and something we've really emphasized. I'm glad to see that. Especially, the pitching staff, they showed up with a different mindset and ready to attack. I really like what we got to see from all three of them that we got out there this weekend."
Aspen Wesley went five scoreless innings before allowing the two homers. Annie Willis came on in relief, and retired all three batters she faced on just nine pitches.
The two teams combined for just eight total hits. Shea Moreno and Jackie McKenna hit doubles for MSU to go along with Malau'ulu's single and a base hit from Mia Davidson.
"We knew it was going to be a low scoring game, especially when it's late and both pitchers are dealing the way they are. I think it was a good send. It's something we've got to risk. It's our fastest runner, and it was going to take a perfect throw to throw her out and she made a perfect throw. I like the risk. I thought it was a good two-out send for us."
Samantha Ricketts on the explanation of her attempted challenge in the top of the fourth…
"I wanted to, especially in a tight game like this, try to use our two in the first five innings. Look at it as a five-inning usage because the umpires are at discretion from the sixth inning on. Any close play, anything where we think it could be questionable, we're going to go out and ask. I think it is a learning process. Talking to the umpire before we reviewed Chloe's [Malau'ulu], she thought it was reviewable as well. They go to the headset back to Birmingham, and they tell her it is not because it was ruled an out. That comes down to how you position baserunners if it is overturned, so it is a work in progress. I'm sure that will be a learning clip for all of us to see how we want to adjust these rules moving forward. We knew when we added replay we would start with limited rules and work our way up from there and see what worked and what doesn't.
Kendra Falby led off with an inside-the-park homer off the left-center field wall. Hannah Adams walked and stole second. She took third when the throw to second escaped into center field. Skylar Wallace hit a two-run homer.
Mississippi State 0, Florida 3
MSU (16-10, 1-2 SEC) had just been kept of the scoreboard on the previous play. Pinch runner Phoebe Florian was thrown out at the plate for the final out of the top of the sixth while trying to score on Chloe Malau'ulu's single.
In the bottom of the frame, Florida's (23-2, 2-1 SEC) Kendra Falby hit a ball off the left-center field wall just over a leaping Malau'ulu. The ball bounded away from center fielder Brylie St. Clair, and Falby raced home for an inside-the-park homer. Two batters later, Skylar Wallace hit a two-run homer to result in the final score.
"I think the takeaway is that we came out and competed every game in all three phases," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "That's been a focus and something we've really emphasized. I'm glad to see that. Especially, the pitching staff, they showed up with a different mindset and ready to attack. I really like what we got to see from all three of them that we got out there this weekend."
Aspen Wesley went five scoreless innings before allowing the two homers. Annie Willis came on in relief, and retired all three batters she faced on just nine pitches.
The two teams combined for just eight total hits. Shea Moreno and Jackie McKenna hit doubles for MSU to go along with Malau'ulu's single and a base hit from Mia Davidson.
Quotables
Samantha Ricketts on the play at the plate in the top of the sixth…"We knew it was going to be a low scoring game, especially when it's late and both pitchers are dealing the way they are. I think it was a good send. It's something we've got to risk. It's our fastest runner, and it was going to take a perfect throw to throw her out and she made a perfect throw. I like the risk. I thought it was a good two-out send for us."
Samantha Ricketts on the explanation of her attempted challenge in the top of the fourth…
"I wanted to, especially in a tight game like this, try to use our two in the first five innings. Look at it as a five-inning usage because the umpires are at discretion from the sixth inning on. Any close play, anything where we think it could be questionable, we're going to go out and ask. I think it is a learning process. Talking to the umpire before we reviewed Chloe's [Malau'ulu], she thought it was reviewable as well. They go to the headset back to Birmingham, and they tell her it is not because it was ruled an out. That comes down to how you position baserunners if it is overturned, so it is a work in progress. I'm sure that will be a learning clip for all of us to see how we want to adjust these rules moving forward. We knew when we added replay we would start with limited rules and work our way up from there and see what worked and what doesn't.
Scoring Recap
Bottom 6Kendra Falby led off with an inside-the-park homer off the left-center field wall. Hannah Adams walked and stole second. She took third when the throw to second escaped into center field. Skylar Wallace hit a two-run homer.
Mississippi State 0, Florida 3
On Deck
Mississippi State will return to Starkville for its SEC home opener when the Bulldogs welcome Ole Miss to Nusz Park on March 18-20. The middle game of the series will feature MSU celebrating its 40th anniversary and recognizing the Ladies of the 80s.Follow the Bulldogs
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hightower (6-0)
L: Wesley, Aspen (4-3)
Batting:
2B: McKenna, Jackie 1 ; Moreno, Shea 1
Base Running:
HBP: Davidson, Mia 1
Batting:
HR: Falby 1 ; Wallace 1
RBI: Falby 1 ; Wallace 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Falby 1 ; Adams 1 ; Wallace 1
SB: Adams 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/INF
/ Softball
UTL
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballC/UTL
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
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