Battle Of The Bulldogs Set For Tuesday Afternoon In Nusz Park

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's softball team has climbed as high as No. 17 in the Softball America poll released today. With additional polls to be released on Tuesday, the No. 19/19 Bulldogs will host a different breed of Bulldog on Tuesday.

State welcomes a hot Samford team to Nusz Park at 4 p.m. CT on Tuesday. The visiting Bulldogs have won five straight under first-year head coach Megan Curry.

MSU is just as hot though after torching The Snowman field this past weekend. The Bulldogs had a home run and a stolen base in every game and won three by run-rule.

Lexi Sosa has been on a tear lately, with four homers in the last four games and 14 RBIs last weekend. Alongside her, Kiarra Sells has had a breakout start to the season with a hit in every game, and Raelin Chaffin continues to hold things down in the circle with victories in six straight appearances.

Leading Off

Veterans On Arrival: A trio of everyday starters (Morgan Bernardnini, Kiarra Sells and Lexi Sosa) had just 50 career at-bats combined entering this season. All three are currently batting above .340. Sells has a hit in every game, and Bernardini has already posted a seven-game hitting streak this year while Sosa leads the team in RBIs (15).

Rockin' And Raelin: Raelin Chaffin has won each of her first six appearances at State, which is the longest winning streak to start a pitcher's MSU career in the program's modern era (since 1997). Chaffin's 25.0 straight innings without allowing an earned run are also the longest streak to start an MSU career in the program's modern era.

Taking Our Freebies: Sierra Sacco and Jessie Blaine are averaging 1.00 walk per game, which ranks sixth in the SEC. Meanwhile, Kiarra Sells ranks 12th nationally with four hit-by-pitches.

Sierra Sets The Table: MSU is 37-7 when Sierra Sacco scores a run since she arrived in 2024. She currently leads the team in batting average (.481), hits (13) and doubles (4) and is second in RBIs (10) and slugging percentage (.704).

Slugging Through The Snow: Mississippi State went 5-0 at The Snowman with three run-rule victories. The Bulldogs had a home run and a stolen base in every game of the tournament. MSU's .681 slugging percentage ranked 10th nationally in Week 2 of the season.

Love Sosa: Lexi Sosa kissed pitches goodbye during Valentine's weekend. She hit an impressive four homers while driving in 14 runs at The Snowman. She had just 10 career RBIs and one homer prior to the weekend. Her RBIs were fourth-most in the nation last week, and her homers ranked seventh.

Pinch-Hit Paige: Paige Ernstes has opened her college career in style. After singling in her first pinch-hitting appearance on Opening Weekend, Ernstes homered on the first pitch she saw as a pinch hitter in Nusz Park. She later made her first career start and delivered a double. Ernests is batting .714 this season.

Magic Number: The Bulldogs have scored five or more runs in 56 of State's 71 wins (78.9 percent) over the past two seasons. The Bulldogs are 126-15 under Samantha Ricketts when scoring at least five.

About Samford (6-2, 0-0 SoCon)

Series History

Notables

Samford returns its top seven hitters from last year's lineup that ranked second in the Southern Conference in scoring and batting average. However, in the circle, Samford is looking to replace 140-plus innings from pitchers who did not return this season. The other Bulldogs are led by first-year head coach Megan Curry who played at Samford for four years and was named SoCon Player of the Year in 2016. Katie Campbell recorded a school-record 56 RBIs last season. Samford also returns SoCon Freshman of the Year, Olivia Shaw who ranked fourth on the team in hits and second in OPS last spring.

On Deck

Mississippi State will travel to Huntsville, Alabama, this weekend for the Rocket City Softball Showcase hosted by the Rocket City Trash Pandas, a Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. Cold temperatures in the forecast have already altered the event's schedule. MSU will now open the tournament on Friday at Toyota Field against Jacksonville State at 7 p.m.

State plays a doubleheader on Saturday against Louisiana Tech at 1 p.m. and North Alabama at 7 p.m. The Louisiana Tech game has been moved to the campus of UAH at Charger Stadium. To close the weekend, the Bulldogs meet Miami (Ohio) at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

Follow the Bulldogs

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

Battle Of The Bulldogs Set For Tuesday Afternoon In Nusz Park

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jessie Blaine

Raelin Chaffin

Paige Ernstes

Sierra Sacco

Kiarra Sells

Lexi Sosa

Mississippi State University Athletics

Battle Of The Bulldogs Set For Tuesday Afternoon In Nusz Park

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jessie Blaine

Raelin Chaffin

Paige Ernstes

Sierra Sacco

Kiarra Sells

Lexi Sosa

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