Second Straight Seven-Homer Day Gives State Saturday Sweep

Saturday, March 1

Starkville

12:30 p.m.

Mississippi State

17-2

Northwestern State

2-17

Northwestern State

Mississippi State

Second Straight Seven-Homer Day Gives State Saturday Sweep

March 01, 2025 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Northwestern State Box Score (PDF)New Mexico Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes Press Conference Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

By: Brian Ogden, Associate Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – For the second straight day, home runs were the story at the Bulldog Invitational presented by C Spire. No. 21 Mississippi State scored every run in a 3-2 victory against Northwestern State via the long ball before hitting a season-high five in a 10-4 win over New Mexico.

Kylee Edwards has now homered in every game of the Bulldog Invitational. Meanwhile, Nadia Barbary and Kiarra Sells went back-to-back on the second day in a row. Barbary left the yard twice for her first career multi-homer game. Morgan Bernardini drove in a pair of runs against the Lobos (8-11-1). Paige Ernstes and Lexi Sosa also hit homers on Saturday.

"I don't think we played our best softball today, but good teams find ways to win," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We did a good job of responding after a close game in Game 1 and coming out and attacking a little bit better to start out Game 2. It was good to see the offensive adjustments up and down the lineup. Nadia [Barbary] had another great day, so did Kylee [Edwards]. The little things are something we pride ourselves on. At-bats like hitting behind the runner like Lexi Sosa did to set up Kylee, and then Morgan Bernadini hits a ground ball to score a run. There are a lot of ways to score a run for us besides just the home run. We did much better in Game 2."

Freshman Sara Phillips got the start in Game 1, going 6.1 innings while allowing just two hits to earn her first career victory. Sosa picked up the save in that game. Delainey Everett earned her fourth win of the year in the day's second game, tossing 4.0 scoreless frames. Chaffin threw the final 2.0 frames, striking out five.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on what she saw from Sara Phillips in her first career start...
"I thought Sara did a great job. She really kept us in it in a close ballgame and was mixing pitches and doing a great job keeping them off balance. She got a lot of ground balls and just did her job. It was good to see her out there in that situation to start out the game. That's something we know for the future can be a big part of what we're doing. Right now, we're just trying to ease her in as we get throughout the season a little bit more."

Samantha Ricketts on what she hopes to see against Northwestern State tomorrow...
"I want us to finish the weekend strong and with a little bit more energy and intensity to start the day. I don't think we quite did that against them today. Our expectations are higher, and we want to play Mississippi State Softball all the time, not coming out and waiting a couple innings until we really get going. I expect us to come out, compete, attack and have high energy from the first pitch tomorrow."

Nadia Barbary on the team's offensive production at the Bulldog Invitational...
"We are just being aggressive and trusting our plan that we make before the game. Batting practice shows it, and we are just going through the plan. When we do get to the plate, it's right where we expect it to be. I'm kind of seeing beach balls right now, thankfully, but I'm just trusting the plan. We've been practicing it all week, and it's showing out there on the field."

Quick Hitters

Call The Bomb Squad – The Bulldogs have hit multiple home run in six straight games … Nadia Barbary and Kiarra Sells hit home runs back-to-back for the third time this week … that's the most by a single pair of players in a season since Mia Davidson and Fa Leilua went back-to-back four times in 2021 … State homered a season-high five times against New Mexico … 22 of State's 36 runs (61.1 percent) this weekend have come via the home run, and the Bulldogs have hit 14 in four games.

Nadia Barbary – Extended her career-long hitting streak to eight games … doubled against Northwestern State … collected her first multi-homer game against New Mexico … batting .583 at the Bulldog Invitational with a team-leading seven RBIs … five of those seven hits have gone for extra bases.

Morgan Bernardini – Drove in two runs against New Mexico for her fourth multi-RBI game of the year … also doubled.

Kylee Edwards – Hit her fourth and fifth home run of the season in back-to-back games … has now homered in every game of the Bulldog Invitational … batting .545 in the tournament with six RBIs … extended her career-long hitting streak to nine games and reached-base streak to 13 games.

Paige Ernstes – Hit her second career home run … both have come as a pinch hitter.

Delainey Everett – Threw 4.0 scoreless innings for her fourth win of the season … needed just 11 total pitches across her final two innings … has earned a win or a save in five straight appearances.

Sara Phillips – Made her first career start in the circle and earned her first career win … struck out a career-high four batters … retired 10 in order from the second through fifth innings.

Sierra Sacco – Extended her reached-base streak to 18 games … singled twice and walked against New Mexico … now leads the team with seven multi-hit games.

Kiarra Sells – Hit her sixth home run of the season against New Mexico, which is tied for the team lead.

Lexi Sosa – Hit her sixth home run of the season against Northwestern State, which is tied for the team lead … recorded her fifth multi-RBI game of the year … picked up her second save of the season in the circle … laid down a squeeze bunt for her 20th RBI of the year, which is second on the team.

Scoring Recap vs. Northwestern State

Bottom 1
With one out, Nadia Barbary singled up the middle. She scored on Lexi Sosa's two-out homer to right field.
Northwestern State 0, No. 21 Mississippi State 2

Bottom 6
On the first pitch of the inning, Kylee Edwards hit a home run to left-center field.
Northwestern State 0, No. 21 Mississippi State 3

Top 7
Riley Schwisow was hit by pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Tori Clayton walked with one out. Cash Herber pinch ran for Clayton at first. Schwisow and Herber scored on a two-out double to center field by DJ Lynch.
Northwestern State 2, No. 21 Mississippi State 3

Scoring Recap vs. New Mexico

Bottom 1
Sierra Sacco singled to left before Nadia Barbary homered to left field. Kiara Sells launched a back-to-back home run to center. Lexi Sosa was hit by a pitch, and she scored from first on Morgan Bernardini's one-out double to left-center.
New Mexico 0, No. 21 Mississippi State 4

Bottom 3
Kiara Sells was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on Lexi Sosa's single to right field. Gretta Grassel pinch ran for Sosa at first. Kylee Edwards fouled out to right, but Sells and Grassel tagged up and advanced. Sells scored on an RBI ground out from Bernardini.
New Mexico 0, No. 21 Mississippi State 5

Top 5
Emma Bramson singled up the middle. With one out, DeNae Vasquez-Dickson hit a fly ball to left, but the outfielder tripped, resulting in a triple and Bramson scoring from first. Vasquez-Dickson scored on Allie Williams' single up the middle.
New Mexico 2, No. 21 Mississippi State 5

Bottom 5
Nadia Barbary smashed a solo homer to center on the first pitch of the inning. Lexi Sosa was walked and scored on a home run to left field by Kylee Edwards.
New Mexico 2, No. 21 Mississippi State 8

Top 6
Ashley Archuleta pinch hit and doubled off the right field wall. With one out, Hayden Luderer homered to right.
New Mexico 4, No. 21 Mississippi State 8

Bottom 6
Paige Ernstes pinch hit and homered to left-center to open the inning. Sierra Sacco singled through the left side, before taking second on a wild pitch. Sells singled over the first baseman, pushing Sacco to third. Sosa laid down a squeeze bunt to score Sacco.
New Mexico 4, No. 21 Mississippi State 10

Next Up

State will meet Northwestern State again on Sunday to close the Bulldog Invitational presented by C Spire. First pitch is set for 12:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.

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