State Opens Bulldog Invitational With Run-Rule Victory

Thursday, February 29

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

12-3

Southern Miss

5-9

Southern Miss

Mississippi State

State Opens Bulldog Invitational With Run-Rule Victory

February 29, 2024 | Softball

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By: Brian Ogden, Associate Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – No. 24/23 Mississippi State opened the Bulldog Invitational presented by C Spire with a 9-0 victory over Southern Miss in five innings on Thursday night.

State scored three runs in three separate frames with the help of two homers and a team season-high four stolen bases. On the other side of the ball, Josey Marron tossed her third complete game of the year, improving to 5-0 on the season. She struck out eight.

"I thought we came out swinging and did a good job at sticking with our plan," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We got to see a bunch of different pitching on the road, and I think we kind of got away from ourselves. That's kind of been the message this week. Let's get back to being aggressive in our plan and in our zone. I thought they did a good job of not trying to overswing and do too much and just pass the bat in our lineup."

Madisyn Kennedy opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the first. Aquana Brownlee added another run with an RBI single in the inning. Nadia Barbary hit a three-run shot in the second. After one scoreless frame, Paige Cook doubled home Sierra Sacco, and Salen Hawkins drove in Jadyn Burney and Riley Hull in the fourth.

Six Bulldogs collected hits in the contest. Sacco, Hull, Hawkins and Kylee Edwards all had stolen bases. It was the first time State swiped four bags since Feb. 28, 2023, when the Bulldogs took four against Mississippi Valley State.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on Josey Marron's fifth win…
"Josey and Aspen have really been frontline starters for us. I think they're kind of 1A and 1B. You can go to either one at either time. They do such a good job, and they complement each other so well. They're both so different, but it was good to see Josey get rolling again. She had a little bit of a stretch there where I don't think she was happy with the way the ball was moving. I thought her last outing in California and then today were really settling back in and attacking the zone, putting change-ups in the dirt when she needed to and just really staying in command the whole game through. That's what we needed her to find and get comfortable again. It was good to see her do that and stay in control."

Samantha Ricketts on Nadia Barbary hitting second in the order…
"I think what I really like the most is she has quality at-bats. Even when she gets down early – I think she went 0-2 at her first at-bat – she just battles. She makes the pitcher work even when she's behind. It may not always result in a hit, but she's going to get off her best swing and really come up with a team at-bat when we need it. I thought her first at-bat when she did that, it was an example of what she could do for us and just trying to get her back and comfortable too. We changed her in the lineup last week a little bit just to let her relax a little. We have a lot of trust in her approach. She doesn't swing like an underclassman. She has the approach of an upperclassman, and we moved her up today and trusted that she could be herself and do her thing. She did that."

Josey Marron on having early run support…
"Yeah, that's huge having those insurance runs. It really lets you take a deep breath and relax and just do your thing and trust your spins as a pitcher. It's really helpful."

Quick Hitters

Our State – The Bulldogs are now 23-4 against in-state foes under Samantha Ricketts and have outscored Mississippi teams 193-63 in her tenure.

Nadia Barbary – Went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer... delivered a career-high three RBIs.

Salen Hawkins – Went 2-for-2 with an RBI single … also walked and stole a base.

Madisyn Kennedy – Hit a two-run homer to open the scoring … now has 26 career home runs and is one shy of Jessica Cooley (2010-13) for eighth in program history.

Josey Marron – Struck out eight … threw her third complete game of the season … as a team MSU now has seven complete games after throwing just eight all of last season … State is now 17-2 in Marron's 19 career starts.

Scoring Recap

Bottom 1
With one out, Nadia Barbary singled up the middle. With two outs, Madisyn Kennedy hit a two-run homer to center. Salen Hawkins singled up the middle and then stole second. Aquana Brownlee singled into left field, scoring Hawkins.
Southern Miss 0, No. 24 Mississippi State 3

Bottom 2
Kylie Edwards was hit by a pitch and stole second base. Seirra Sacco walked with one out. Barbary homered to left field off the first pitch she saw.
Southern Miss 0, No. 24 Mississippi State 6

Bottom 4
Sacco singled to shortstop and then stole second. Barbary flied out to center field, advancing Sacco to third. Paige Cook doubled to right field, bringing Sacco home. Jadyn Burney came in to pinch run for Cook at second. With two outs, Riley Hull walked, and Burney advanced to third on a passed ball. Hull stole second before Salen Hawkins singled up the middle, sending both runners home.
Southern Miss 0, No. 24 Mississippi State 9

Next Up

State is set to meet Troy on Friday, March 1 as the Bulldog Invitational presented by C Spire continues throughout the weekend. The Bulldogs and Trojans are scheduled to take the field at 3 p.m. CT, and the game will air on SEC Network+.

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