Saturday, February 8
Clearwater, Fla.
2 p.m.
Mississippi State
2-1
3
vs
2
Bethune-Cookman
0-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Bethune-Cookman
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
2
4
1
Mississippi State
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
3
6
5
Sells’ Walk-Off, Sacco’s School-Record Lift State To Saturday Sweep
February 08, 2025 | Softball
CLEARWATER, Fla. – For three innings on Saturday, No. 24 Mississippi State's offense had solved every pitch being thrown at it. The Bulldogs scored two in the bottom of the seventh to claim a walk-off victory against Bethune-Cookman. They carried that momentum into their second game, scoring five runs in the first two innings against Penn State.
"The message at the end of Game 1 was, you know, what our focus had been all offseason, which was to finish and to continue to learn how to finish games together," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I thought they did a great job and then the message just shifted into how can we learn from yesterday's doubleheader and take the highs of Game 1 and not fall into the trap of not being ready for Game 2. I thought they responded in a in an excellent way and just really came out ready to attack and knowing that we wanted to keep them momentum, keep the energy, and that's exactly what we did in Game 2 to start."
Kiarra Sells was a hero again, plating the game-winning run against the Wildcats (0-3). The Bulldogs (3-1) tied the game at 2-2 on an RBI single from Sierra Sacco. She took second on the throw home and moved to third on a wild pitch before Sells' single brought her home.
Sacco sparked the second game with the first of her school-record three doubles on the night. Lexi Sosa drove in a run in the first, and Kylee Edwards' doubled home a pair. In the second, Sacco brought home a run with another double before beating a throw to the plate on an infield ground ball to run the Bulldog lead to 5-0. She plated a second run with another double in the sixth.
While the offense was rallying, Raelin Chaffin was silencing the opponent. She entered the game against Bethune-Cookman with the bases loaded in the sixth and struck out a pair to end the frame without allowing a run. She held the Wildcats in check to allow the State comeback. From there, she simply held Penn State (1-3) scoreless for six frames while allowing just three hits before giving way to freshman Sara Phillips who threw the final inning in her collegiate debut.
"She's just she's one of the best hitters in the country. The way that she's disciplined, she puts in the extra work and just can really do it all with damage to all different parts of the ballpark. You know, she really had nothing to show for it in Game 1, but swung the bat exceptionally well as well, and that's just the game. I think she was rewarded with a lot of really great base hits for us in Game 2, but she's been swinging it well all week long."
Kiarra Sells on her walk-off single…
"I just thought, if anything, I should just be able to hit this girl in – any kind of pitch. I was super confident that any ball that was coming my way, I was going to hit it. I'm going to hit her in. Kudos to Nadia for moving her over, Mo [Bernardini] starting the inning and Sierra making it around to third, which was such a huge thing. That was kind of my mindset: 'Hey, she got on. This is my chance. I'll move her, score her, anything.'"
Sierra Sacco on carrying momentum over from the first game…
"One hundred percent [the ending of Game 1 affected Game 2]. I think we finally got the confidence and like, 'Guys, we can do this,' type of feeling. I think once we got our mojo – because we were hitting balls hard, they just weren't falling – once we got the confidence about that 'Guys, we can hit it.'"
Sierra Sacco on her three doubles and making an effort to add power in the offseason…
"I think for me, it's just about getting a barrel on it and just getting a good swing off. Whether it turns out to be a double, single, triple, it doesn't really make a difference to me as long as I'm on base for my next teammate that'll get me in."
Nadia Barbary – Recorded a double against Bethune-Cookman … drove in a run against Penn State.
Morgan Bernardini – Singled to put the game-tying run on base in the bottom of the seventh against the Wildcats … singled and scored against Penn State.
Jessie Blaine – Picked off a runner at first against the Wildcats.
Raelin Chaffin – Earned her second win of the season in relief against Bethune-Cookman … struck out three and allowed just one hit in 1.2 innings … inherited a bases-loaded situation in the sixth and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame without allowing a run … tossed 6.0 shutout innings against Penn State for her third win of the year … became just the third Bulldog since at least 2003 to earn the win in her first three appearances at MSU (Josey Marron, 4, 2023; Holly Ward, 3, 2015) …her 15.2 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run are the fourth-longest streak to open a Bulldog career since at least 2003.
Kylee Edwards – Hit the first Bulldog homer of the season against Bethune-Cookman … drove a two-run double against Penn State … now ranks second on the team in RBIs.
Paige Ernstes – Collected her first career hit in first at-bat as a pinch hitter against Penn State.
Josey Marron – Threw 5.1 innings against Bethune-Cookman without allowing an earned run … struck out seven.
Sierra Sacco – Drove in the game-tying run and scored the game-winning run against Bethune-Cookman … doubled a career-high three times against Penn State, tying the school record set by Jenny Hehnke in 1997 (vs. Tulsa, Feb. 23) … drove in two runs and scored once … now leads the team in RBIs.
Kalani Sells – Swiped her first career stolen base against Bethune-Cookman.
Kiarra Sells – Drove in the winning run with a walk-off single against Bethune-Cookman … was also hit by two pitches … singled and scored against Penn State … has a hit in every game this season … drew a pair of walks against the Nittany Lions … now leads the team with a .444 batting average, .615 on-base percentage and 1.171 OPS.
With one out, Kylee Edwards homered to left field
Bethune-Cookman 0, No. 24 Mississippi State 1
Top 5
With one out, Joyce Bloome reached on a throwing error by the third baseman. Joslynn Davis walked to put two runners on. Emma Bradley-Tse bunted the runners to second and third before Jessica Alaan hit a ground ball that slipped under the shortstop's glove. Both runners scored on the error, but Alaan was thrown out trying to stretch to second to end the inning.
Bethune-Cookman 2, No. 24 Mississippi State 1
Sierra Sacco led off the ballgame with a double, and Nadia Barbary followed with a single off the third baseman. Kiarra Sells hit a grounder to third, where Sacco was retired, but the throw across the diamond was wild. That allowed Sells to take second and Barbary to reach third. Lexi Sosa then singled into left to score Barbary before Kylee Edwards brought home Sells and Sosa with a double into left field.
No. 24 Mississippi State 3, Penn State 0
Top 2
Morgan Bernardini led off with a single before Sacco doubled her home. Sacco took third on a wild pitch. She then beat the throw to the plate on Barbary's ground ball to the shortstop.
No. 24 Mississippi State 5, Penn State 0
Top 6
With two outs, Morgan Stiles reached on a fielding error. She scored on Sacco's third double of the night.
No. 24 Mississippi State 6, Penn State 0
Bottom 7
With one out, Maddie Gordon tripled to right field. She scored on Jenna Nelson's ground out to second.
No. 24 Mississippi State 6, Penn State 1
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
"The message at the end of Game 1 was, you know, what our focus had been all offseason, which was to finish and to continue to learn how to finish games together," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I thought they did a great job and then the message just shifted into how can we learn from yesterday's doubleheader and take the highs of Game 1 and not fall into the trap of not being ready for Game 2. I thought they responded in a in an excellent way and just really came out ready to attack and knowing that we wanted to keep them momentum, keep the energy, and that's exactly what we did in Game 2 to start."
Kiarra Sells was a hero again, plating the game-winning run against the Wildcats (0-3). The Bulldogs (3-1) tied the game at 2-2 on an RBI single from Sierra Sacco. She took second on the throw home and moved to third on a wild pitch before Sells' single brought her home.
Sacco sparked the second game with the first of her school-record three doubles on the night. Lexi Sosa drove in a run in the first, and Kylee Edwards' doubled home a pair. In the second, Sacco brought home a run with another double before beating a throw to the plate on an infield ground ball to run the Bulldog lead to 5-0. She plated a second run with another double in the sixth.
While the offense was rallying, Raelin Chaffin was silencing the opponent. She entered the game against Bethune-Cookman with the bases loaded in the sixth and struck out a pair to end the frame without allowing a run. She held the Wildcats in check to allow the State comeback. From there, she simply held Penn State (1-3) scoreless for six frames while allowing just three hits before giving way to freshman Sara Phillips who threw the final inning in her collegiate debut.
Quotables
Samantha Ricketts on Sierra Sacco's school-record three doubles…"She's just she's one of the best hitters in the country. The way that she's disciplined, she puts in the extra work and just can really do it all with damage to all different parts of the ballpark. You know, she really had nothing to show for it in Game 1, but swung the bat exceptionally well as well, and that's just the game. I think she was rewarded with a lot of really great base hits for us in Game 2, but she's been swinging it well all week long."
Kiarra Sells on her walk-off single…
"I just thought, if anything, I should just be able to hit this girl in – any kind of pitch. I was super confident that any ball that was coming my way, I was going to hit it. I'm going to hit her in. Kudos to Nadia for moving her over, Mo [Bernardini] starting the inning and Sierra making it around to third, which was such a huge thing. That was kind of my mindset: 'Hey, she got on. This is my chance. I'll move her, score her, anything.'"
Sierra Sacco on carrying momentum over from the first game…
"One hundred percent [the ending of Game 1 affected Game 2]. I think we finally got the confidence and like, 'Guys, we can do this,' type of feeling. I think once we got our mojo – because we were hitting balls hard, they just weren't falling – once we got the confidence about that 'Guys, we can hit it.'"
Sierra Sacco on her three doubles and making an effort to add power in the offseason…
"I think for me, it's just about getting a barrel on it and just getting a good swing off. Whether it turns out to be a double, single, triple, it doesn't really make a difference to me as long as I'm on base for my next teammate that'll get me in."
Quick Hitters
The Magic Number – State improved to 121-15 under Samantha Ricketts when scoring five or more runs … the Bulldogs have scored five or more runs in 78.5 percent (51 of 65) of their wins since the start of 2023.Nadia Barbary – Recorded a double against Bethune-Cookman … drove in a run against Penn State.
Morgan Bernardini – Singled to put the game-tying run on base in the bottom of the seventh against the Wildcats … singled and scored against Penn State.
Jessie Blaine – Picked off a runner at first against the Wildcats.
Raelin Chaffin – Earned her second win of the season in relief against Bethune-Cookman … struck out three and allowed just one hit in 1.2 innings … inherited a bases-loaded situation in the sixth and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame without allowing a run … tossed 6.0 shutout innings against Penn State for her third win of the year … became just the third Bulldog since at least 2003 to earn the win in her first three appearances at MSU (Josey Marron, 4, 2023; Holly Ward, 3, 2015) …her 15.2 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run are the fourth-longest streak to open a Bulldog career since at least 2003.
Kylee Edwards – Hit the first Bulldog homer of the season against Bethune-Cookman … drove a two-run double against Penn State … now ranks second on the team in RBIs.
Paige Ernstes – Collected her first career hit in first at-bat as a pinch hitter against Penn State.
Josey Marron – Threw 5.1 innings against Bethune-Cookman without allowing an earned run … struck out seven.
Sierra Sacco – Drove in the game-tying run and scored the game-winning run against Bethune-Cookman … doubled a career-high three times against Penn State, tying the school record set by Jenny Hehnke in 1997 (vs. Tulsa, Feb. 23) … drove in two runs and scored once … now leads the team in RBIs.
Kalani Sells – Swiped her first career stolen base against Bethune-Cookman.
Kiarra Sells – Drove in the winning run with a walk-off single against Bethune-Cookman … was also hit by two pitches … singled and scored against Penn State … has a hit in every game this season … drew a pair of walks against the Nittany Lions … now leads the team with a .444 batting average, .615 on-base percentage and 1.171 OPS.
Scoring Recap vs. Bethune-Cookman
Bottom 2With one out, Kylee Edwards homered to left field
Bethune-Cookman 0, No. 24 Mississippi State 1
Top 5
With one out, Joyce Bloome reached on a throwing error by the third baseman. Joslynn Davis walked to put two runners on. Emma Bradley-Tse bunted the runners to second and third before Jessica Alaan hit a ground ball that slipped under the shortstop's glove. Both runners scored on the error, but Alaan was thrown out trying to stretch to second to end the inning.
Bethune-Cookman 2, No. 24 Mississippi State 1
Scoring Recap vs. Penn State
Top 1Sierra Sacco led off the ballgame with a double, and Nadia Barbary followed with a single off the third baseman. Kiarra Sells hit a grounder to third, where Sacco was retired, but the throw across the diamond was wild. That allowed Sells to take second and Barbary to reach third. Lexi Sosa then singled into left to score Barbary before Kylee Edwards brought home Sells and Sosa with a double into left field.
No. 24 Mississippi State 3, Penn State 0
Top 2
Morgan Bernardini led off with a single before Sacco doubled her home. Sacco took third on a wild pitch. She then beat the throw to the plate on Barbary's ground ball to the shortstop.
No. 24 Mississippi State 5, Penn State 0
Top 6
With two outs, Morgan Stiles reached on a fielding error. She scored on Sacco's third double of the night.
No. 24 Mississippi State 6, Penn State 0
Bottom 7
With one out, Maddie Gordon tripled to right field. She scored on Jenna Nelson's ground out to second.
No. 24 Mississippi State 6, Penn State 1
Next Up
State's final game at the NFCA Leadoff Classic will be played at noon CT on Sunday against No. 16/19 Nebraska. The game will be available to stream 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 (3-0)
L: Abigail Britton (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Sacco, Sierra 3 ; Edwards, Kylee 1
RBI: Sacco, Sierra 2 ; Barbary, Nadia 1 ; Sosa, Lexi 1 ; Edwards, Kylee 2
SH: Stiles, Morgan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sacco, Sierra 1 ; Barbary, Nadia 1 ; Sells, Kiarra 1 ; Sosa, Lexi 1 ; Bernardini, Morgan 1 ; Stiles, Morgan 1
Batting:
3B: Natalie Lieto 1
RBI: Jenna Nelson 1
SH: Kaylie Walters 1 ; Meagan Ricks 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Natalie Lieto 1
HBP: Natalie Lieto 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
C/INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
INF
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