Sacco-Ferrie, Davidson Selected By Cascade On AUSL Draft Day

STARKVILLE – A pair of Mississippi State alumni heard their names called on Monday night during the AUSL Draft. The two-part event was made up of an expansion draft as the league welcomes two new teams and an allocation draft for all remaining available free agents that did not end the 2025 season on an active roster.

Former Bulldog All-Americans Sierra Sacco-Ferrie and Mia Davidson will be teammates this summer with the Cascade as the league expands to six teams and shifts those franchises to permanent home cities. Both have prior professional experience with Athletes Unlimited.

Sacco-Ferrie (2024-25), who was a member of the inaugural champion Talons roster in 2025, was not one of the team's five protected players to begin the night. As such, she was taken in the third round of the expansion draft by the Cascade. Sacco-Ferrie posted a phenomenal rookie campaign that saw her earn AUSL All-Defensive Team honors as one of just two league outfielders with a perfect fielding percentage. She hit .313 over 20 games, primarily out of the leadoff spot for the league champs, while launching three homers, including the first long ball in league history.

Following the AUSL regular season, Sacco-Ferrie finished among the top 30 in the AUSL All-Star Cup, reaching base in all but two games in the 10-game series and ranking fifth among rookies in stat points. She will play with Team USA in Australia later this month before returning to Starkville as a student coach.

Davidson's professional career will continue after the catcher was selected with the eighth overall pick in the second round of the allocation draft by the Cascade. In January, Davidson was the No. 17 overall pick in the inaugural AUSL Draft, selected by the Bandits. An injury while playing overseas in Japan derailed her 2025 season, and she did not play a game in the AUSL's first year. Due to that injury, she was not on an active roster when the year ended and was considered a free agent available for selection.

Davidson, the SEC's all-time home run leader, was a Bulldog standout for five years (2018-22). She was a two-time All-American, earning unanimous first team honors in her final year while being tabbed the NFCA Catcher of the Year. Her professional career has seen her play four seasons of Athletes Unlimited's prior individual scoring format, finishing as high as third in the shortened AUX season in 2023, and win a league title in Mexico with the Diablos Rojos del México in 2025.

Mississippi State has seen 28 players go on to professional careers, and 16 of those were coached by Samantha Ricketts for at least one season at MSU. Nine Bulldogs have gone on to pro careers in the six years since she was named the program's head coach, and at least one player has signed a professional contract in each of the last five seasons. All players selected on Monday played under Ricketts.

State has now accounted for 18 draft picks in program history, though Sacco-Ferrie and Davidson had been taken in previous drafts as well. Davidson is the only Bulldog to be chosen in three different professional drafts, accounting for MSU's 12th, 14th and 18th picks in school history. Sacco-Ferrie accounts for picks No. 15 and 17.

The 2026 AUSL season will be played in the summer following the conclusion of the collegiate season. To date, only the Oklahoma City Spark, a pre-existing franchise that merged with the league this fall, has seen its permanent home city be revealed. Additional league cities will be revealed in early 2026. Opening Day rosters will hold a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 16 players. Each team is required to select at least two players in the spring's AUSL College Draft.

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

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Sacco-Ferrie, Davidson Selected By Cascade On AUSL Draft Day

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