Bulldog Comeback Bid Falls Short In Seventh Against No. 10 Florida

Friday, March 29

Starkville

4:00 PM

Mississippi State

25-8, 6-5

#10 Florida

30-5, 6-2

Florida

Mississippi State

Bulldog Comeback Bid Falls Short In Seventh Against No. 10 Florida

March 29, 2024 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

By: Brian Ogden, Associate Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – No. 17/17 Mississippi State saw a second comeback attempt fall just short on Friday against No. 10/9 Florida. The Bulldogs brought the tying run to the plate, but ultimately lost, 8-5.

Down 8-2 in the seventh inning, the Bulldogs' first five batters reached base to score three more runs before Florida's Keagan Rothrock closed out the game.

"It's always good to see the fight," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I think there's definitely the belief after we've been able to do it the last couple of weeks, but ultimately, we gave away too many at-bats in the middle innings. We need to have that focused approach throughout the whole game. It's a good pitcher. It's a good team. We can't give away at-bats and expect to do it in the late innings every week."

State (25-8, 6-5 SEC) put up two runs in the first inning on an Ella Wesolowski single, but Florida's Jocelyn Erickson hit a three-run homer in the third inning. The Gators (30-5, 6-2 SEC) would never trail again. Erickson hit another homer in the top of sixth to extend the lead to 5-2, and Florida plated three more runs in the frame.

The Bulldog comeback began with a Salen Hawkins single to left field followed by two walks to load the bases. Nadia Barbary drove in one, and Madisyn Kennedy took a bases-loaded walk before a third run scored on a Gator error.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on Mississippi State's approach against pitcher Ava Brown...
"I thought she did a good job changing her approach. It was tough to sit with one gameplan because every time we went out there, she was leaning on another pitch. It's kind of the cat and mouse game, the game within the game. At this point, you know what she throws, but what's the setup? What's she going to in one inning? One inning was all changeups, then it was riseballs, then it was more of that backdoor curve and screwball. Big credit to her. She was hitting her spots. She really did a great job of keeping us on our toes. We need to be more disciplined in what we're swinging at and knowing what she's going to mix and what part of the zone we're looking to drive it out of."

Nadia Barbary on making adjustments heading into the series finale…
"I think being able to see [Keagan] Rothrock and [Ava] Brown both again today after we saw them both Friday, we were really able to see all their pitches and know what our plan should be tomorrow and prepare well for that.

Quick Hitters

Nadia Barbary – Hit her team-leading 10th double of the year … added an RBI single for her 12th multi-hit game of the year, which leads the team.

Jessie Blaine – Walked, singled and reached on an error … drove in a run.

Kylee Edwards – Recorded a career-high seven assists, which is the most by a Bulldog since Bevia Robinson had seven assists at then-No. 7/9 Florida on May 4, 2019 … also doubled.

Madisyn Kennedy – Walked to extend her career-long reached base streak to 20 games and drive in a run.

Ella Wesolowski – Recorded her sixth multi-RBI game of the season.

Scoring Recap

Bottom 1
With one out, Nadia Barbary doubled off the left-center wall and advanced to third when the left fielder couldn't pick up the ball cleanly. After walks by Madisyn Kennedy and Jessie Blaine to load the bases, Ella Wesolowski drove in Barbary and Kennedy with a single to shallow center.
No. 17 Mississippi State 2, No. 10 Florida 0

Top 4
Skylar Wallace and Korbe Otis led off the inning with back-to-back walks before Jocelyn Erickson hit a three-run home run to right-center.
No. 17 Mississippi State 2, No. 10 Florida 3

Top 6
With one out, Otis singled into left field before Erickson hit a two-run home run to right-center. Reagan Walsh followed with a single off the pitcher's arm and scored on a double into left field by Katie Kistler. Cassidy McLellan reached on a fielding error by the pitcher to move Kistler to third. She scored when McLellan was caught stealing. Ava Brown hit a solo home run to left field.
No. 17 Mississippi State 2, No. 10 Florida 8

Bottom 7
Salen Hawkins singled to left field to lead off the inning. Matalasi Faapito pinch hit and drew a walk, and Kiarra Sells pinch ran for her at first. Sierra Sacco drew a walk to load the bases. Barbary singled to left field to score Hawkins before Kennedy drew a walk, scoring Sells. Kat Wallace pinch ran for Barbary at first. Blaine reached on fielder's choice to third. Wallace was forced out at third, but the throw to complete the double play was wild, allowing Kennedy to advance to third on the error and Sacco to score.
No. 17 Mississippi State 5, No. 10 Florida 8

Next Up

The series finale is set for noon CT on Saturday. The rubber match at Nusz Park will air on SEC Network+.

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