Been Here Before
May 27, 2022 | Softball, Joel Coleman
Bulldogs aren't scared of must-win territory.
STARKVILLE – A smile was evident across the face of Mia Davidson. Mississippi State's star slugger walked into the postgame press conference room on Friday, obviously still her confident self.
It was a stark contrast to what you might expect. MSU had just fallen 3-2 in extra innings to Arizona in the first game of the Starkville Super Regional at Nusz Park. You'd think Davidson and the Bulldogs might be shaken.
Well, you'd be wrong. The smirk across Davidson's face proved it. And why?
"How we played, none of us on the team should hang our heads," Davidson said. "We fought until the very end. We did what we needed to do, just need to make sure balls fall in and work on the little things. I have all the confidence in the team that we can go out and compete [Saturday in Game 2] and do what we need to do and just focus on ourselves."
You don't have to look too far into the past to see why no one in maroon and white is shaking in their cleats at a 1-0 series deficit. Remember last weekend?
Here's a quick reminder. At the Tallahassee Regional, MSU lost its opener 4-0 to South Florida. To win the event, the Bulldogs needed four wins over a two-day stretch.
With their backs to the wall, the Dawgs delivered, topping Howard and South Florida on Saturday before ousting No. 2 national seed Florida State on Sunday with a pair of victories over the Seminoles.
So, if there's anyone worried about the pressure Mississippi State now faces possibly getting to these Bulldogs, well stop worrying. MSU has thrived under duress. The Dawgs plan on doing so once again.
"We definitely are not going to go away," Madisyn Kennedy said. "This team does not go away. Every single one of us wants to go compete as hard as we can and leave this field with no regrets. That's the plan for every single one of us. We're going to leave it all out here and play our best game [Saturday] and just play for each other."
It's not just last weekend's heroics that give State reason to believe in itself. Even in the loss, Friday showed the Dawgs are right there with the Wildcats.
Pitcher Annie Willis shut down Arizona from the circle. Davidson and Matalasi Faapito each hit solo home runs in back-to-back innings to give MSU a 2-1 lead entering the seventh. The Wildcats rallied to tie the game with a sacrifice fly in the seventh ahead of a game-winning Izzy Pacho homer in the eighth, but none of that changed how the Bulldogs viewed their efforts.
As strange as it may sound in defeat, a lot went right for Mississippi State.
"I look at the little things and what we track and what's important to us and how we work to win a game and if I look at what we follow in our process, at the end of the day, we can lay our heads down and know we competed in every phase we try to," MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We scored first. We won the freebie war. We gave up three [runs] or less. We had a web gem by [Kennedy] and a couple of 15-pitches-or-less innings from Annie. A lot of the little things we work hard to do or focus on instead of the scoreboard, I thought we did well. It just didn't end up in our favor."
The Dawgs' play on the field was solid. The effort around the ballpark was strong as well.
A crowd of 2,209 was in attendance. It marked the largest crowd to ever watch a collegiate softball game in the state of Mississippi. The Bulldogs treasured the atmosphere.
"We had so many people behind us," Davidson said. "That energy in the stands and outfield is just something that a little girl dreams of with everybody cheering for you. That really pumped us up and gave us a lot of momentum. We had no dull moment with our crowd. It was just one of those things that you just love to see. It was amazing."
In many ways, Mississippi State heads back to the ballpark on Saturday for Game 2 at 3 p.m. looking for a repeat of Game 1. The Bulldogs need the same raucous crowd. They hope to once again win in the little things they focus on each contest.
There's only one thing that needs changing.
"Hopefully, it turns out in our favor on the scoreboard at the end of the day," Ricketts said.
If it does, a decisive Game 3 will be held Sunday, but first things first.
"We need to refocus and be where our feet are in this moment," Ricketts said.
If the Bulldogs do that, Friday will merely have been a speedbump. It'll just be the latest chapter of this story of resiliency MSU has been authoring.
Yes, Saturday is do or die for the Dawgs. Given such a situation, some may be tempted to count MSU out. Do so with caution.
This team isn't scared because they know they can battle back. They've proven it. This is just a chance to do it once again.
"I am proud of how this team fought [on Friday]," Kennedy said. "I know that every single person fought until the very end in that game. It just didn't go our way. But [Saturday], I'm excited to see what this team will do."
