State Falls To Samford To Close Non-Conference Slate

Wednesday, April 24

Birmingham, Ala.

5:00 PM

Mississippi State

30-14

Samford

17-27

Mississippi State

Samford

State Falls To Samford To Close Non-Conference Slate

April 24, 2024 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Brian Ogden, Associate Director/Communications

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – No. 18/18 Mississippi State lost in walk-off fashion on Wednesday night at Samford. With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Samford doubled off the wall and the ball was bobbled by the outfielder, allowing the winning run to score from first.

State (30-14, 9-9 SEC) collected three hits in the ballgame courtesy of Jessie Blaine, Sierra Sacco and Ella Wesolowski. All three reached base multiple times thanks to walks or errors.

Blaine drove in the Bulldogs only runs, plating Sacco with a single to left before getting caught in a rundown that allowed Nadia Barbary to also score on the play. Samford's first two runs came on a homer to left.

Lexi Sosa drew the start in the circle and threw 4.0 innings, striking out two and walking none. Matalasi Faapito closed out the ballgame.

Quick Hitters

Jessie Blaine – Drove in a run with a single and then was caught in a rundown to allow a second run to score … also walked to reach twice.

Matalasi Faapito – Retired the first six batters she faced in order.

Sierra Sacco – Singled and scored to reach for the third straight game.

Ella Wesolowski – Walked to extend her reached base streak to four games … later added a single.

Scoring Recap

Top 4
Sierra Sacco singled to right field and was awarded second due to obstruction by the first baseman. Nadia Barbary walked behind her. Madisyn Kennedy flew out to deep left, advancing both runners. Jessie Blaine singled into left to score Sacco from third and was caught in a rundown between first and second. Barbary came home while Blaine was caught between the bags.
No. 18 Mississippi State 2, Samford 0

Bottom 4
With one out, Logan Champion singled off the pitcher's leg. With two outs, Olivia Shaw homered to left.
No. 18 Mississippi State 2, Samford 2

Bottom 7
Katie Campbell singled through the left side to lead off the inning, and Lindsey Nelson came in to pinch run. Shaw doubled into the right-center gap and advanced to third when the ball was bobbled against the fence by the right fielder. Nelson scored on the play.
No. 18 Mississippi State 2, Samford 3

Next Up

State is gearing up for its annual Saturday-Monday series in conference play and will be the showcase series on the SEC Network this weekend. The Bulldogs travel to No. 14/14 Missouri on Friday afternoon and will play the Tigers on April 27-29. State enters the series looking to win all four of its road series in conference play for the first time on record, and doing so would add to the Bulldogs' school-record 11 wins against ranked teams this year.

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