Saturday, April 16
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
6:00 PM
Mississippi State
26-17, 7-8
0
at
4
#3 Alabama
36-6, 13-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Mississippi State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
2
Alabama
0
0
1
0
3
0
X
4
6
1
Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Fifth-Inning Rally Sinks State In Series Finale
April 16, 2022 | Softball
TUSCSLOOSA, Ala. – Mississippi State fell, 4-0, at No. 2 Alabama in the series finale on Saturday night. The Crimson Tide scored three runs in the fifth inning.
Kenley Hawk threw a complete game, her third of the year, and did not allow an earned run until that pivotal fifth inning.
"I think the thing we take away is that we went toe-to-toe with one of the top teams and top pitchers in the country," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "It's something we need to learn from moving forward. We can't just brush off this series and move forward. Just like we talked about after our first weekend of the season, we've got to learn and grow, and that's got to drive us to work harder. We know we can compete. We've shown that. We clean up a couple things here and there and finish a game, and it's a different conversation."
Alabama (36-6, 13-5 SEC) opened the scoring on a bunt play in the third. When the catcher's throw was high and rolled to the right field fence, Kat Grill reached safely and raced home to score. The Crimson Tide then loaded the bases in the fifth before recording an out and plate two runs on a single up the middle and a third on a groundout.
Mississippi State (26-17, 7-8 SEC) put runners on base in five separate innings but could not push a run across. Mia Davidson, Chloe Malau'ulu and Madisyn Kennedy collected hits for the Bulldogs.
"The competitiveness was there, the ability. The bounce back, even Kenley [Hawk] today coming out and having a solid start after yesterday was good to see. She's another arm we're going to need down the stretch, and I wanted to make sure she knew we had confidence in her and all of our pitching staff. I thought they did a great job. The defense stepped up as well this series. At the end of the day, it's compete, learn from it and use that to fuel us moving forward knowing that we had much better series against them in this hostile environment than maybe some of our other series."
Samantha Ricketts on defensive improvements this week…
"I think the biggest difference has just been the focus. Stepping up to the big stage and wanting the ball, wanting to compete, wanting to have their pitchers' backs and make a play and wanting to have each other's backs. If we do make an error, so what? Let's come right back and make the next one."
Samantha Ricketts comparing this weekend to the season's opening weekend games against No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 3 UCLA…
"I think we've come a long way from that first weekend. That's why we went out there and played that tough schedule to open the season. The want, the belief and the ability to compete is different. The whole team is bought in. The whole team has each other's backs. The whole team believes we can compete and beat and go toe-to-toe with these teams now."
Kenley Hawk – Threw her team-leading third complete game of the season and third of her career.
Madisyn Kennedy – Picked up an assist on a relay throw to the plate to cut down a run in the sixth … also made a diving catch on a liner in the hole … beat out an infield single.
Brylie St. Clair – Recorded her second career outfield assist, throwing out a runner at the plate in the sixth.
Kat Grill laid down a bunt to lead off the inning, but the catcher's throw to first was high and rolled to the fence in the right field corner. Grill raced all the way home on the error.
Mississippi State 0, Alabama 1
Bottom 5
Jenna Johnson and Grill opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Ashley Prange then drew a walk to load the bases. Pinch hitter Aubrey Barnhart singled up the middle to score Johnson and Grill. Prange advanced to third and Barnhart took second on the throw. Dallis Goodnight re-entered the game for Barnhart to run at second base. Prange scored on a ground out from Bailey Dowling.
Mississippi State 0, Alabama 4
Kenley Hawk threw a complete game, her third of the year, and did not allow an earned run until that pivotal fifth inning.
"I think the thing we take away is that we went toe-to-toe with one of the top teams and top pitchers in the country," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "It's something we need to learn from moving forward. We can't just brush off this series and move forward. Just like we talked about after our first weekend of the season, we've got to learn and grow, and that's got to drive us to work harder. We know we can compete. We've shown that. We clean up a couple things here and there and finish a game, and it's a different conversation."
Alabama (36-6, 13-5 SEC) opened the scoring on a bunt play in the third. When the catcher's throw was high and rolled to the right field fence, Kat Grill reached safely and raced home to score. The Crimson Tide then loaded the bases in the fifth before recording an out and plate two runs on a single up the middle and a third on a groundout.
Mississippi State (26-17, 7-8 SEC) put runners on base in five separate innings but could not push a run across. Mia Davidson, Chloe Malau'ulu and Madisyn Kennedy collected hits for the Bulldogs.
Quotables
Samantha Ricketts on her takeaways from the series…"The competitiveness was there, the ability. The bounce back, even Kenley [Hawk] today coming out and having a solid start after yesterday was good to see. She's another arm we're going to need down the stretch, and I wanted to make sure she knew we had confidence in her and all of our pitching staff. I thought they did a great job. The defense stepped up as well this series. At the end of the day, it's compete, learn from it and use that to fuel us moving forward knowing that we had much better series against them in this hostile environment than maybe some of our other series."
Samantha Ricketts on defensive improvements this week…
"I think the biggest difference has just been the focus. Stepping up to the big stage and wanting the ball, wanting to compete, wanting to have their pitchers' backs and make a play and wanting to have each other's backs. If we do make an error, so what? Let's come right back and make the next one."
Samantha Ricketts comparing this weekend to the season's opening weekend games against No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 3 UCLA…
"I think we've come a long way from that first weekend. That's why we went out there and played that tough schedule to open the season. The want, the belief and the ability to compete is different. The whole team is bought in. The whole team has each other's backs. The whole team believes we can compete and beat and go toe-to-toe with these teams now."
Quick Hitters
Mia Davidson – Extended her reached-base streak to a career-long 23 games with a first-inning single … caught a runner stealing in the second inning of a then-scoreless game.Kenley Hawk – Threw her team-leading third complete game of the season and third of her career.
Madisyn Kennedy – Picked up an assist on a relay throw to the plate to cut down a run in the sixth … also made a diving catch on a liner in the hole … beat out an infield single.
Brylie St. Clair – Recorded her second career outfield assist, throwing out a runner at the plate in the sixth.
Scoring Recap
Bottom 3Kat Grill laid down a bunt to lead off the inning, but the catcher's throw to first was high and rolled to the fence in the right field corner. Grill raced all the way home on the error.
Mississippi State 0, Alabama 1
Bottom 5
Jenna Johnson and Grill opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Ashley Prange then drew a walk to load the bases. Pinch hitter Aubrey Barnhart singled up the middle to score Johnson and Grill. Prange advanced to third and Barnhart took second on the throw. Dallis Goodnight re-entered the game for Barnhart to run at second base. Prange scored on a ground out from Bailey Dowling.
Mississippi State 0, Alabama 4
On Deck
MSU will have two midweek games next week. The Bulldogs host ULM at 5 p.m. CT on Tuesday, April 19. That game will air on SEC Network+. State then hits the road for a makeup contest against UT Martin in Lexington, Tennessee, on Wednesday, April 20 at 5:30 p.m.Follow the Bulldogs
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Fouts (19-3)
L: Hawk, Kenley (11-4)
Batting:
2B: Prange 1
RBI: Barnhart 2 ; Dowling 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Prange 1 ; J. Johnson 1 ; Grill 2
SB: Shipman 1
CS: Lord 1
HBP: Prange 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/INF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
OF
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