Sunday, April 3
Knoxville, Tenn.
11:00 AM
Mississippi State
24-12, 5-4
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10
#13 Tennessee
25-10, 7-4
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6
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H
E
Mississippi State
0
1
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4
4
Tennessee
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10
9
0
Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Bulldogs Fall In Series Final At No. 11 Tennessee
April 03, 2022 | Softball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Mississippi State fell by a score of 10-1 in the rubber match at No. 11 Tennessee on Sunday.
The Bulldogs (24-12, 5-4 SEC) scored first, but allowed 10 unanswered runs, all coming on five home runs. Madisyn Kennedy scored the game's first run. She singled and took second on a wild pitch before scoring on Shea Moreno's double.
Tennessee (25-10, 7-4 SEC) took the lead on a grand slam in the third inning. The Lady Vols then added four more runs on three homers in the fifth and walked off with a two-run homer in the sixth.
"I thought we started off the game strong, but we weren't able to hang on to the energy or momentum from Saturday," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We need to work to be consistent in all three phases in order to bounce back this week."
Kennedy had one of the game's best at-bats. In a 4-1 ballgame with two runners on and two outs, she fell into an 0-2 hole after fouling off the second strike. Kennedy then saw 21 more pitches, fouling off another 17, before striking out in a full count.
Mia Davidson – Singled and was hit by two pitches to reach in all three trips.
Madisyn Kennedy – Went 1-for-3 with a run scored … battled through a 23-pitch at-bat against Tennessee's Ashley Rogers fouling off 18 pitches … MLB at-bat records date back to 1988, and the MLB record is 21 pitches set by Brandon Belt on April 22, 2018.
Shea Moreno – Hit two two-out doubles … first double drove in a run … batting .407 in SEC play with five doubles.
Annie Willis – Struck out four of the first five hitters she faced … finished with five strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
Madisyn Kennedy singled to left to lead off the inning then advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Shea Moreno doubled into left-center field to score Kennedy.
Mississippi State 1, Tennessee 0
Bottom 3
Kiki Milloy led off with a bloop single down the right-field line. Milloy then stole second and took third on a throwing error. Lair Beautae and Rylie West drew walks to load the bases before McKenna Gibson hit a grand slam.
Mississippi State 1, Tennessee 4
Bottom 5
With one out, Zaida Puni hit a solo home run. Gibson reached on an error by the third baseman before Ashley Morgan hit a two-run homer. Kelcy Leach followed that with a solo home run of her own.
Mississippi State 1, Tennessee 8
Bottom 6
With two outs, Anna Fox singled and advanced to second on a throwing error. Morgan then hit a two-run homer to end the game.
Mississippi State 1, Tennessee 10
The Bulldogs (24-12, 5-4 SEC) scored first, but allowed 10 unanswered runs, all coming on five home runs. Madisyn Kennedy scored the game's first run. She singled and took second on a wild pitch before scoring on Shea Moreno's double.
Tennessee (25-10, 7-4 SEC) took the lead on a grand slam in the third inning. The Lady Vols then added four more runs on three homers in the fifth and walked off with a two-run homer in the sixth.
"I thought we started off the game strong, but we weren't able to hang on to the energy or momentum from Saturday," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We need to work to be consistent in all three phases in order to bounce back this week."
Kennedy had one of the game's best at-bats. In a 4-1 ballgame with two runners on and two outs, she fell into an 0-2 hole after fouling off the second strike. Kennedy then saw 21 more pitches, fouling off another 17, before striking out in a full count.
Quick Hitters
Two-Out Rallies – State is hitting .376 with two outs in conference play, which is nearly 100 points higher than its overall average (.283) … 20 of MSU's 34 RBIs have come with two outs.Mia Davidson – Singled and was hit by two pitches to reach in all three trips.
Madisyn Kennedy – Went 1-for-3 with a run scored … battled through a 23-pitch at-bat against Tennessee's Ashley Rogers fouling off 18 pitches … MLB at-bat records date back to 1988, and the MLB record is 21 pitches set by Brandon Belt on April 22, 2018.
Shea Moreno – Hit two two-out doubles … first double drove in a run … batting .407 in SEC play with five doubles.
Annie Willis – Struck out four of the first five hitters she faced … finished with five strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
Scoring Recap
Top 2Madisyn Kennedy singled to left to lead off the inning then advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Shea Moreno doubled into left-center field to score Kennedy.
Mississippi State 1, Tennessee 0
Bottom 3
Kiki Milloy led off with a bloop single down the right-field line. Milloy then stole second and took third on a throwing error. Lair Beautae and Rylie West drew walks to load the bases before McKenna Gibson hit a grand slam.
Mississippi State 1, Tennessee 4
Bottom 5
With one out, Zaida Puni hit a solo home run. Gibson reached on an error by the third baseman before Ashley Morgan hit a two-run homer. Kelcy Leach followed that with a solo home run of her own.
Mississippi State 1, Tennessee 8
Bottom 6
With two outs, Anna Fox singled and advanced to second on a throwing error. Morgan then hit a two-run homer to end the game.
Mississippi State 1, Tennessee 10
On Deck
Mississippi State will make a quick midweek road trip to Southern Miss on Wednesday, April 6 for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch in Hattiesburg. The game will be available on C-USA.tv.Follow the Bulldogs
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: A. Rogers (5-3)
L: Willis, Annie (3-3)
Batting:
2B: Moreno, Shea 2
RBI: Moreno, Shea 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kennedy, Madisyn 1
HBP: Hull, Riley 1 ; Davidson, Mia 2 ; Purvis, Addison 1
Batting:
HR: Z. Puni 1 ; M. Gibson 1 ; A. Morgan 2 ; K. Leach 1
RBI: Z. Puni 1 ; M. Gibson 4 ; A. Morgan 4 ; K. Leach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: K. Milloy 1 ; L. Beautae 1 ; R. West 1 ; Z. Puni 1 ; M. Gibson 1 ; A. Fox 2 ; A. Morgan 2 ; K. Leach 1
SB: K. Milloy 1 ; L. Beautae 1
HBP: A. Morgan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/INF
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/ SoftballINF
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