State Wins Final Midweek At Home

Wednesday, April 27

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

30-19

Southern Miss

27-19

Southern Miss

Mississippi State

State Wins Final Midweek At Home

April 27, 2022 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

By: Brian Ogden, Associate Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State took down Southern Miss, 5-4, in its final midweek matchup of the season. A pair of big swings from Matalasi Faapito and Jackie McKenna provided all of MSU's scoring.

After State (30-19, 8-10 SEC) fell behind by three runs, Faapito tied the game in the second inning with a home run to left, scoring Paige Cook and Brylie St. Clair. In the following inning, McKenna's ground-rule double scored Mia Davidson and Chloe Malau'ulu after they opened the frame with back-to-back singles.

"We've had quite a few games now where we've been down early with not our best pitching start," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "It's been something that we have talked about and worked on, how to not press early on, to continue to have competitive at bats and really start earlier in the game and not wait until the fifth, sixth and seventh. It was good to see them buy into that and make adjustments early in the game to find a way to get us right back in it."

Southern Miss (27-19, 7-11 C-USA) would get a run back in the top of the fourth, but the Golden Eagles were held scoreless the rest of the way. Malau'ulu was a key part of that, throwing out the tying run at the plate for the final out of the fourth inning

Annie Willis threw four scoreless innings in relief, striking out seven, to earn the save. Grace Fagan earned the win after entering the game in the third inning and allowing just one run.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on seeing Southern Miss' Morgan Leinstock for a second time this season…
"It definitely helped us prepare. She does a really good job of mixing speeds and locations with the drop ball, and we were able to prepare for it a little bit better being able to see her for the whole game last time. It was good that we were able to adjust to it and not make the same mistakes."

Matalasi Faapito on her three-run home run?
"It felt really good. I knew today that I needed to have fun and remember why I play this game. Coach Ricketts chose me to be in this position, and I just wanted to have fun at the end of the day."

Annie Willis on her four-inning save…
"Tonight was a typical midweek game. We all had to pull our weight and it was a team effort. We got down early, but we worked on it as a team. Just one at-bat and pitch at a time. We all came together and pushed through together."

Annie Willis on pitching with runners on base…
"That is something that we have really been working on all season long. That is something that is very important. It allows us to come together as one unit for one collective goal. It is very nice to see that showing in our games now."

Quick Hitters

Paige Cook – Went 1-for-3 and scored a run.

Mia Davidson – Went 2-for-3 and scored a run … recorded her 11th multi-hit game of the season.

Matalasi Faapito – Tied the game with a three-run home run in the second inning … home run was her 11th of the year.

Chloe Malau'ulu – Recorded her fourth outfield assist of the season and the 12th of her career … ranks fifth in MSU career history … stole second for her fourth stolen base of the season and later scored a run.

Jackie McKenna – Gave the Bulldogs the lead with a two-run, ground-rule double in the third inning.

Brylie St. Clair – Went 1-for-3 and scored a run.

Annie Willis – Picked up a 4.0 inning save … struck out seven batters while allowing three hits.

Scoring Recap

Top 1
Maria Smith drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a Tata Davis single. Smith scored on a single by Scout Jennings, which pushed Davis to second. Jana Lee singled up the middle to score Davis.
Southern Miss 2, Mississippi State 0

Top 2
With two outs, Destini Brown hit a solo home run to left.
Southern Miss 3, Mississippi State 0

Bottom 2
Paige Cook led off with an infield single. She advanced to third on Brylie St. Clair's single through the right side. St. Clair then advanced to second on the throw. Matalasi Faapito hit a home run to left field to score Cook and St. Clair.
Southern Miss 3, Mississippi State 3

Bottom 3
Mia Davidson singled up the middle before advancing to second on a Chloe Malau'ulu single through the right side. Davidson advanced to third after Cook flew out to left field. Malau'ulu stole second before Jackie McKenna hit a ground-rule double to left to score both runners.
Southern Miss 3, Mississippi State 5

Top 4
Brown led off the inning with an infield single and advanced to second after Maria Smith drew a walk. Hannah Borden drew a one-out walk to load the bases. Jana Lee hit a single through the left side to score Brown, but Smith was thrown out at home for the final out.
Southern Miss 4, Mississippi State 5

On Deck

Mississippi State will travel to No. 11 Kentucky for its penultimate SEC series this weekend. Friday and Sunday's games will air on SEC Network+ at 5 p.m. and noon CT, respectively. The Saturday game in Lexington is set to air nationally on SEC Network at 2 p.m. CT.

Follow the Bulldogs

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