Friday, February 7
Clearwater, Fla.
4 p.m.
Mississippi State
1-0
3
vs
1
#13 Texas Tech
1-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
Mississippi State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
5
0
Texas Tech
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
3
0
Chaffin Wins Pitcher’s Duel With Canady To Open Season, State Splits Opening Day
February 07, 2025 | Softball
CLEARWATER, Fla. – No. 24 Mississippi State opened its season with a bang, battling through an extra-innings pitching duel to take down No. 13 Texas Tech, 3-1.
In her MSU debut, Raelin Chaffin went toe-to-toe with reigning Player of the Year NiJaree Canady, matching her with scoreless frames through seven innings. She struck out six and induced a pair of double plays along the way.
Kiarra Sells picked a perfect time for her first career hit, breaking the tie in the top of the eighth with a single through the right side to score the runner placed on second for the international tie-breaker rule. From there, State continued to rally, plating two more runs with a sacrifice fly from Morgan Bernardini, which was her first career RBI, and an RBI single from Sierra Sacco.
Chaffin limited the Red Raiders (1-1) to just three hits, and only two of those came after the first inning. The only run she allowed was unearned as a result of the runner placed on second to begin the extra frame.
The Bulldogs (1-1) fell in the nightcap to No. 7 Duke (2-0) by a score of 8-0. Sells continued to swing a hot bat, driving a double in her first at-bat. Sosa also singled, extending her reached-base streak to four games, dating back to 2024.
"You know, I think it really helps that we had just seen her in regionals to finish the season, so I think there was a lot of confidence from our returners. They really did a great job of just, you know, talking up the rest of the team, saying 'Hey, we got this. We're going in confident. We've got nothing to lose.' We're going to compete. We practiced for it, and I think that was just the mindset. To me, there was no fear. It wasn't like when we found out we were getting sent to Stanford for a regional last year – 'Oh, no, here we go.' It was 'Yes, bring on the challenge.' We want to see her again. We want to go out there and compete, and I thought that's exactly what they did."
Samantha Ricketts on Raelin Chaffin's outing…
"Raelin's performance was awesome. I'm so excited for her. You know, we knew bringing her in that there was just a little something in her, just that competitive edge. She just still wanted to prove herself in her last season. She's been throwing harder and harder every week. She's been mixing speeds, and I think Coach T [Taryne Mowatt-McKinney] is a perfect match for her, just the mindset that she's been able to kind of continue to enhance with her. There was no doubt that we were letting her finish that game. She'd earned the right, and I think she was just doing a great job of competing. She was confident, and you could see the team feeding off of that and wanted to get some runs for her too."
Raelin Chaffin on her mindset throughout the game…
"Yeah, I think it was the second inning, this is kind of a cool moment. But in the second inning, I remember Kylee [Edwards] came in, she made a great play and she came in and said, 'We're winning this game.' I think it's just cool to hear your teammates, you know, also believe you're going to win this game. I knew this the entire time, but just to hear them relay that back is also really cool. I was like they know we're going to win. I know we're going to win. We're going to win."
Kiarra Sells on her first career hit and go-ahead RBI…
"I just thought to myself, there's a runner on two, the worst thing I can do is strikeout. I was like all I've got to do is just move the runner. I wasn't thinking about anything else. If she gives me that pitch, I'm going to hit it. I was looking for anything that I could hit to the right side or for a sac fly."
Morgan Bernardini – Drove in the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly against Texas Tech for her first career RBI.
Raelin Chaffin – Threw a complete game in her MSU debut … tossed 8.0 innings without allowing an earned run … only run allowed was the runner placed on second base by the international tie-breaker rule … struck out six.
Kylee Edwards – Turned her 11th career double play … now holds sole possession of fifth-most by a Bulldog shortstop … scored the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth against Texas Tech.
Sierra Sacco – Extended her hitting streak to seven games, dating back to last season with an RBI single against Texas Tech.
Kiarra Sells – Collected her first career hit in the top of the eighth against Texas Tech with a go-ahead RBI single … later scored the game-winning run … doubled against Duke.
Lexi Sosa – Delivered a pinch hit double against Texas Tech … now 6-for-17 (.353) as a pinch hitter in her career with a pair of extra-base hits … added a single against Duke.
Kylee Edwards was placed on second base by the international tie-breaker rule. With one out, Kiarra Sells singled through the right side off the first baseman's glove to score Edwards. Riley Hull then dropped a single down the right field line, advancing Sells to third. Hull then stole second. Morgan Bernardini hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Sells and advancing Hull to third where she came around to score on a Sierra Sacco single that deflected off the pitcher.
No. 24 Mississippi State 3, No. 13 Texas Tech 0
Bottom 8
Anya German was placed on second by the international tie-breaker. Raegan Jennings replaced her running at second. Victoria Valdez was hit by a pitch and Logan Halleman walked to load the bases. With one out, Mihyia Davis grounded out to second, scoring Jennings from third.
No. 24 Mississippi State 3, No. 13 Texas Tech 1
D'Auna Jennings beat out a high chopper to short to open the inning and then stole second. Aminah Vega drew a walk before Kairi Rodriguez hit a three-run homer with one out.
No. 24 Mississippi State 0, No. 7 Duke 3
Bottom 2
KK Mathis beat out a single off the pitcher. With two outs, she stole second. Jennings walked to put two runners on before Vega hit a two-run double off the left field wall.
No. 24 Mississippi State 0, No. 7 Duke 5
Bottom 3
Rodriguez singled down the left field line where the ball was stopped by a Duke pitcher in the bullpen. Amiah Burgess singled to right field to push Rodriguez to second. Jada Baker attempted to but the runners over, but the Bulldogs forced out the runner at third. Mathis then singled to the diving shortstop, who did not have time to make a play at second. Brooklinn Thomas beat out a double play ball to second base to allow Burgess to score.
No. 24 Mississippi State 0, No. 7 Duke 6
Bottom 4
Jennings beat out a single to the shortstop and advanced to second on Vega's single to left. Vega was retired at second base on a fielder's choice that saw Jennings reach third and Ana Gold beat out the double play at first. Gold then stole second. With two outs, Burgess singled on a high infield chopper, scoring Jennings from third. Gold never stopped running around third and got in a rundown where she beat the throw to the plate.
No. 24 Mississippi State 0, No. 7 Duke 8
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
In her MSU debut, Raelin Chaffin went toe-to-toe with reigning Player of the Year NiJaree Canady, matching her with scoreless frames through seven innings. She struck out six and induced a pair of double plays along the way.
Kiarra Sells picked a perfect time for her first career hit, breaking the tie in the top of the eighth with a single through the right side to score the runner placed on second for the international tie-breaker rule. From there, State continued to rally, plating two more runs with a sacrifice fly from Morgan Bernardini, which was her first career RBI, and an RBI single from Sierra Sacco.
Chaffin limited the Red Raiders (1-1) to just three hits, and only two of those came after the first inning. The only run she allowed was unearned as a result of the runner placed on second to begin the extra frame.
The Bulldogs (1-1) fell in the nightcap to No. 7 Duke (2-0) by a score of 8-0. Sells continued to swing a hot bat, driving a double in her first at-bat. Sosa also singled, extending her reached-base streak to four games, dating back to 2024.
Quotables
Samantha Ricketts on facing NiJaree Canady to open the season…"You know, I think it really helps that we had just seen her in regionals to finish the season, so I think there was a lot of confidence from our returners. They really did a great job of just, you know, talking up the rest of the team, saying 'Hey, we got this. We're going in confident. We've got nothing to lose.' We're going to compete. We practiced for it, and I think that was just the mindset. To me, there was no fear. It wasn't like when we found out we were getting sent to Stanford for a regional last year – 'Oh, no, here we go.' It was 'Yes, bring on the challenge.' We want to see her again. We want to go out there and compete, and I thought that's exactly what they did."
Samantha Ricketts on Raelin Chaffin's outing…
"Raelin's performance was awesome. I'm so excited for her. You know, we knew bringing her in that there was just a little something in her, just that competitive edge. She just still wanted to prove herself in her last season. She's been throwing harder and harder every week. She's been mixing speeds, and I think Coach T [Taryne Mowatt-McKinney] is a perfect match for her, just the mindset that she's been able to kind of continue to enhance with her. There was no doubt that we were letting her finish that game. She'd earned the right, and I think she was just doing a great job of competing. She was confident, and you could see the team feeding off of that and wanted to get some runs for her too."
Raelin Chaffin on her mindset throughout the game…
"Yeah, I think it was the second inning, this is kind of a cool moment. But in the second inning, I remember Kylee [Edwards] came in, she made a great play and she came in and said, 'We're winning this game.' I think it's just cool to hear your teammates, you know, also believe you're going to win this game. I knew this the entire time, but just to hear them relay that back is also really cool. I was like they know we're going to win. I know we're going to win. We're going to win."
Kiarra Sells on her first career hit and go-ahead RBI…
"I just thought to myself, there's a runner on two, the worst thing I can do is strikeout. I was like all I've got to do is just move the runner. I wasn't thinking about anything else. If she gives me that pitch, I'm going to hit it. I was looking for anything that I could hit to the right side or for a sac fly."
Quick Hitters
Dawg Defense – The Bulldogs turned two double plays against Texas Tech … the first was on a popped up bunt … the second was an unassisted turn up the middle by shortstop Kylee Edwards.Morgan Bernardini – Drove in the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly against Texas Tech for her first career RBI.
Raelin Chaffin – Threw a complete game in her MSU debut … tossed 8.0 innings without allowing an earned run … only run allowed was the runner placed on second base by the international tie-breaker rule … struck out six.
Kylee Edwards – Turned her 11th career double play … now holds sole possession of fifth-most by a Bulldog shortstop … scored the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth against Texas Tech.
Sierra Sacco – Extended her hitting streak to seven games, dating back to last season with an RBI single against Texas Tech.
Kiarra Sells – Collected her first career hit in the top of the eighth against Texas Tech with a go-ahead RBI single … later scored the game-winning run … doubled against Duke.
Lexi Sosa – Delivered a pinch hit double against Texas Tech … now 6-for-17 (.353) as a pinch hitter in her career with a pair of extra-base hits … added a single against Duke.
Scoring Recap vs. No. 13 Texas Tech
Top 8Kylee Edwards was placed on second base by the international tie-breaker rule. With one out, Kiarra Sells singled through the right side off the first baseman's glove to score Edwards. Riley Hull then dropped a single down the right field line, advancing Sells to third. Hull then stole second. Morgan Bernardini hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Sells and advancing Hull to third where she came around to score on a Sierra Sacco single that deflected off the pitcher.
No. 24 Mississippi State 3, No. 13 Texas Tech 0
Bottom 8
Anya German was placed on second by the international tie-breaker. Raegan Jennings replaced her running at second. Victoria Valdez was hit by a pitch and Logan Halleman walked to load the bases. With one out, Mihyia Davis grounded out to second, scoring Jennings from third.
No. 24 Mississippi State 3, No. 13 Texas Tech 1
Scoring Recap vs. No. 7 Duke
Bottom 1D'Auna Jennings beat out a high chopper to short to open the inning and then stole second. Aminah Vega drew a walk before Kairi Rodriguez hit a three-run homer with one out.
No. 24 Mississippi State 0, No. 7 Duke 3
Bottom 2
KK Mathis beat out a single off the pitcher. With two outs, she stole second. Jennings walked to put two runners on before Vega hit a two-run double off the left field wall.
No. 24 Mississippi State 0, No. 7 Duke 5
Bottom 3
Rodriguez singled down the left field line where the ball was stopped by a Duke pitcher in the bullpen. Amiah Burgess singled to right field to push Rodriguez to second. Jada Baker attempted to but the runners over, but the Bulldogs forced out the runner at third. Mathis then singled to the diving shortstop, who did not have time to make a play at second. Brooklinn Thomas beat out a double play ball to second base to allow Burgess to score.
No. 24 Mississippi State 0, No. 7 Duke 6
Bottom 4
Jennings beat out a single to the shortstop and advanced to second on Vega's single to left. Vega was retired at second base on a fielder's choice that saw Jennings reach third and Ana Gold beat out the double play at first. Gold then stole second. With two outs, Burgess singled on a high infield chopper, scoring Jennings from third. Gold never stopped running around third and got in a rundown where she beat the throw to the plate.
No. 24 Mississippi State 0, No. 7 Duke 8
Next Up
The Bulldogs will continue their stay in Clearwater with two games on Saturday. State will open the day against Bethune-Cookman at 2 p.m. CT before facing Penn State at 5 p.m. Both games will be available on GameChanger.For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chaffin, Raelin (1-0)
L: NiJaree Canady (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Sosa, Lexi 1
RBI: Sacco, Sierra 1 ; Sells, Kiarra 1 ; Bernardini, Morgan 1
SF: Bernardini, Morgan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Edwards, Kylee 1 ; Sells, Kiarra 1 ; Hull, Riley 1
SB: Hull, Riley 1
CS: Sacco, Sierra 1
Batting:
2B: Alana Johnson 1
RBI: Mihyia Davis 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Raegan Jennings 1
SB: Lauren Allred 1
HBP: Victoria Valdez 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
dp/c
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballOF
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