Bulldogs Blast Four Homers In Series-Securing Rout

Sunday, March 24

Fayetteville, Ark.

12:00 PM

Mississippi State

24-7, 5-4

#18 Arkansas

24-8, 3-3

Mississippi State

Arkansas

Bulldogs Blast Four Homers In Series-Securing Rout

March 24, 2024 | Softball

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By: Brian Ogden, Associate Director/Communications

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – On the back of four home runs, No. 20/20 Mississippi State run-ruled No. 18/17 Arkansas, 15-7, in five innings on Sunday afternoon, securing the series for State.

Madisyn Kennedy started the offensive effort with a two-run homer in the first. Sierra Sacco hit her first career home run, a three-run shot, in the second inning to get State (24-7, 5-4 SEC) out to a 6-0 lead. MSU then scored nine runs, all with two outs, in the fourth inning with four extra-base hits in the frame.

"I liked the way we responded," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We tried to be a little bit more confident in our game, trying to be more aggressive, which is something our offense does. We know [Arkansas] is a great hitting team, and they were going to score no matter what the score was. It was just kind of staying within ourselves and doing what we do in our normal approach. I thought we did a really good job of answering back, especially early on."

Ella Wesolowski had the biggest swing in the fourth, launching her first career grand slam. Two batters later Salen Hawkins hit her second homer of the year. Sacco and Nadia Barbary each added another run with an RBI double.

Arkansas (24-8, 3-3 SEC) scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth and two in the fifth, but the Razorbacks could not plate enough runs to keep the run-rule from ending the game early. MSU has now won 12 games by run-rule this year, which is tied for second-most in school history and one shy of the school record set in 2008.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on scoring nine runs in the fourth, all with two outs…
"One of our goals for every game is to get some key two-out RBIs because it's one of those things from the other side on defense when you give up a two-out RBI, you think, 'Man, I was almost off the hook.' It's something we really lock in on and pride ourselves on. They just continued to pass the bat, and I thought they did a really good job of having team approaches up and down the lineup all game."

Samantha Ricketts on what the fourth inning does for her team's mentality…
"I think it just continues to give us confidence, seeing it happen up and down the lineup. I thought our approaches were much better, more locked-in, more Mississippi State-style offense. That's something we need to learn how to bring every game, whether it's hard outs or the ball is flying over the wall. It was good to see the adjustment, especially from yesterday."

Ella Wesolowski on her approach on her grand slam…
"The previous at-bats, I was getting a little bit in my head. I just went up there and did my thing. I just said trust myself and don't go up there thinking about too much. I knew that it was for the team. It fired the team up. It fired me up. That's our whole goal is to make sure the team is having good energy throughout the whole game."

Sierra Sacco on her first career homer…
"I've hit one in high school, but that's it. I saw it off the bat and thought, 'Wait, that might could go over,' so I might have watched it, which I shouldn't have. Don't do that. I was like, 'Oh, wait. That could be gone,' and then it was gone."

Quick Hitters

The Big Inning – The Bulldogs sent 13 batters to the plate in the fourth, scoring nine runs … the Bulldogs have now batted around eight times this year, and 13 hitters was two shy of State's single-inning season high (15) … Sierra Sacco scored twice in the frame … State hit two homers and two doubles, including a grand slam … notably in that sequence, three Bulldog freshman had three consecutive hits with Ella Wesolowski hitting a grand slam, Kylee Edwards singling and Salen Hawkins hitting a two-run homer.

Ain't It Grand – State has tied the school record with five grand slams this season.

Nadia Barbary – Recorded her team-leading ninth multi-hit game of the season.

Salen Hawkins – Hit her second career home run.

Madisyn Kennedy – Hit her team-leading 12th home run of the year, which would be tied for the SEC lead entering the day … has hit eight homers and driven in 24 runs in her last 10 games … now tied for ninth in MSU career history with 128 RBIs (Fa Leilua, 2019-21) … also tied with Leilua for fourth in program history with 14 career home runs in conference games … posted her sixth multi-hit game and team-leading 10th multi-RBI game of the year … has reached base in a career-best 18 straight games.

Sierra Sacco – Hit her first career home run … tied her career high with three RBIs on one swing then broke it with a double … also drew a walk and reached on an error … scored a career-high four times, which is tied for second in MSU single-game history.

Ella Wesolowski – Hit her first career grand slam … posted a career-high four RBIs … also picked up her second double of the series and matched her career high with three hits … finished the series with three extra-base hits and five RBIs … posted a .909 slugging percentage for the series and led the team with a .455 batting average.

Scoring Recap

Top 1
Sierra Sacco opened the game with a walk. She moved to second on Nadia Barbary's ground out before Madisyn Kennedy hit a two-run homer to left.
No. 20 Mississippi State 2, No. 18 Arkansas 0

Top 2
Ella Wesolowski hit a leadoff double down the left field line that just stayed fair. With one out, Salen Hawkins beat out a single to the pitcher as Wesolowski advanced to third. Brylie St. Clair singled up the middle to score Wesolowski before Sacco hit her a three-run homer to left center.
No. 20 Mississippi State 6, No. 18 Arkansas 0

Bottom 2
With one out, Raigan Kramer doubled to right-center field, and Carlee Ratcliff was hit by a pitch. Cylie Halvorson singled to shortstop, but the throw to first was then wild allowing all runners to advance an extra base. That scored Kramer and put Ratcliff on third with Halvorson on second. Lauren Camenzind then grounded out to second, scoring Ratcliff.
No. 20 Mississippi State 6, No. 18 Arkansas 2

Top 4
With one out, Sacco reached on a fielding error. With two outs, Kennedy beat out an infield single to short, and Riley Hull pinch ran at first. Paige Cook was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jessie Blaine drew a walk to score Sacco. Wesolowski then hit a grand slam. Kylee Edwards singled up the middle before Hawkins hit a two-run homer. Pinch hitter Aquana Brownlee was hit by a pitch, and St. Clair re-entered to run at first. Sacco then doubled to left-center to score St. Clair. Barbary doubled to left-center as well, scoring Sacco.
No. 20 Mississippi State 15, No. 18 Arkansas 2

Bottom 4
Ratcliff was hit by a pitch to open the inning. With one out, Lauren Camenzind homered to left field. Reagan Johnson singled to first base and later scored on Bri Ellis' two-out double to center field.
No. 20 Mississippi State 15, No. 18 Arkansas 5

Bottom 5
Kramer singled to second base to open the inning. With one out, Halvorson hit a two-run home run to center.
No. 20 Mississippi State 15, No. 18 Arkansas 7

Next Up

Mississippi State returns home for a Thursday-Saturday series with No. 10/10 Florida next week. The Bulldogs host the Gators on national TV on Thursday night at 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network. Friday's first pitch is set for 4 p.m., and the series finale will be played at noon on Saturday. The final two games will air on SEC Network+.

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

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Team Stats

Pitching:

W: Wesley, Aspen (9-2)

L: Morgan Leinstock (6-2)

Mississippi State

Batting:

2B: Sacco, Sierra 1 ; Barbary, Nadia 1 ; Wesolowski, Ella 1

HR: Sacco, Sierra 1 ; Kennedy, Madisyn 1 ; Wesolowski, Ella 1 ; Hawkins, Salen 1

RBI: Sacco, Sierra 4 ; Barbary, Nadia 1 ; Kennedy, Madisyn 2 ; Blaine, Jessie 1 ; Wesolowski, Ella 4 ; Hawkins, Salen 2 ; St. Clair, Brylie 1

Base Running:

RUNS: Sacco, Sierra 4 ; Kennedy, Madisyn 1 ; Hull, Riley 1 ; Cook, Paige 1 ; Blaine, Jessie 1 ; Wesolowski, Ella 2 ; Edwards, Kylee 1 ; Hawkins, Salen 2 ; St. Clair, Brylie 2