Errors Cost State At SEC Tournament

Tuesday, May 9

Fayetteville, Ark.

6:30 PM

Mississippi State

28-25

Missouri

34-23

Missouri

Mississippi State

Errors Cost State At SEC Tournament

May 09, 2023 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

By: Brian Ogden, Associate Director/Communications

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Mississippi State fell 3-1 in the opening game of the SEC Tournament on Tuesday night against Missouri.

The Tigers (34-23) immediately capitalized on a pair of Bulldog errors with two outs to score their first two runs. In the second, the error was followed by a triple to open the scoring. After State (28-25) had tied the game in fourth, a single was extended by an error to put a runner in scoring position who came home on a double two pitches later.

"I thought we had a quality start from Reis Beuerlein, and we have to make sure we're making plays behind," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I think it's kind of been an Achilles' heel for us all year. Against a team like Missouri, when you know they've got the bats all up and down the lineup that can get hot at any time, credit to them. They did a really good job of swinging within their plans. Same thing for Laurin Krings executing pitches all throughout the game. It feels like both of us knew it was a game with a lot on the line for us in terms of postseason implications."

Nadia Barbary provided MSU's offense, hitting a solo homer to open the bottom of the fourth. Shea Moreno also had a double earlier in the game, but she was left stranded. Matalasi Faapito drew a walk as a pinch hitter to open the sixth. Brylie St. Clair re-entered to run for her, but she did not advance past second.

"It's good to get our freshman class that feel of pressure-type games in postseason, but we know we have to really make sure we're bringing it every day in all parts – offense, pitching and defense – to give ourselves a shot in a tough SEC game like this," Ricketts added.

Quotables

Nadia Barbary on her approach in her home run at-bat…
"After my first at-bat, my first pitch was inside, so going up for my second at-bat, I used my first at-bat for learning and was waiting for that inside pitch. The first pitch was the curveball, so I took that. Then I was like, 'Okay, now she needs a strike, and a screwball is her go-to strike,' so I was waiting on that, and that's what I got. I hit it."

Samantha Ricketts on her outlook on the NCAA Tournament…
"I think for us, we've known the last few weeks that we've had a lot on the line and that every game was a big game, especially after our skid there in the SEC. I think that we truly believe that when we're fully healthy and we've got everybody out there that we're a postseason-quality team. We hope that our resume, our strength of schedule, has shown that the last couple of weeks. We've got a few good Quad 1 wins against top-25 teams. After that it's up to the committee, and there's not much we can do. I think a win today would've helped the resume, so we're kind of going to be waiting to see what happens across the country in other tournaments. For us right now, we're playing probably our best ball of the year at the right time, and we're hoping to get one of our big bats back that we've missed this last week as well. When we have everybody out there, we're a much better team than we were showing about a month ago.

Quick Hitters

Nadia Barbary – Hit a solo homer in the fourth.

Reis Beuerlein – Tossed 5.0 innings, allowing just one earned run … needed just five pitches to get through the third inning … retired the Tigers in order in her second trip through the lineup.

Josey Marron – Threw the final 2.0 innings, striking out two.

Shea Moreno – Doubled for her third extra-base hit of the year.

Scoring Recap

Top 2
With two outs, Payton Jackson reached on a fielding error by the second baseman. She scored on Maddie Snider's triple to right-center field.
Missouri 1, Mississippi State 0

Bottom 4
Nadia Barbary hit a leadoff homer down the left field line.
Missouri 1, Mississippi State 1

Top 5
With two outs, Jenna Laird singled into right-center field and advanced to second on a fielding error in the outfield. She scored on Alex Honnold's double off the right-center wall.
Missouri 2, Mississippi State 1

Top 7
With two outs, Laird singled up the middle. She advanced to second when Honnold was hit by a pitch. Kara Daly then doubled down the left-field line to score Laird.
Missouri 3, Mississippi State 1

On Deck

Mississippi State awaits the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday night. The bracket for the NCAA Tournament will be released at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

Follow the Bulldogs

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