No. 19 State Splits Doubleheader To Open Series At No. 25 Alabama

Friday, March 14

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

2 p.m.

Mississippi State

23-4, 4-0

#25 Alabama

20-8, 0-1

Mississippi State

Alabama

No. 19 State Splits Doubleheader To Open Series At No. 25 Alabama

March 14, 2025 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Score (PDF)Game 2 Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

By: Brian Ogden, Associate Director/Communications

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – In its first-ever game in Rhoads Stadium as a ranked team, No. 19 Mississippi State flexed its muscles, defeating No. 25 Alabama, 9-1, for its first run-rule victory in the series. The Bulldogs dropped a back-and-forth game in the nightcap, falling, 7-4, as Alabama evened the series.

State (23-5, 4-1 SEC) put runners on the bases in every inning of both games. The Bulldogs scored first in both contests and Sierra Sacco reached base in all but one plate appearance on the day. Offensively, State hit three home runs in Game 1, bringing their season total to 41 long balls.

Raelin Chaffin went the distance in Game 1, striking out seven. The only run she allowed was unearned. The victory moved MSU to 4-0 in conference play for the first time in program history.

"I think there was just a lot of focus from our hitters," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "It always different on the road. You get a chance to set the tone early. We were excited for a chance to get back on the field after Wednesday's game, and they did a really good job of swinging within the plan and attacking the pitches we knew we were going to get from her."

In the second game of the day, the Bulldogs again opened the scoring, but Alabama (21-8, 1-1 SEC) answered with three runs in the bottom of the first. State took the lead with three runs in the fourth courtesy of a Morgan Stiles double and Sacco single, but the Crimson Tide responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame. A two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth secured the final score.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on the benefit of home runs and the run-rule to shorten the game for the rest of the series…
"I think it's always a benefit, especially for Jessie [Blaine] to get that first one off her back. I just love seeing it from different people in the lineup. I think that's something we've done really well this year. It gave us a chance to give Raelin [Chaffin] a cushion. It's a tough place to play here. It gave us a chance to maybe go to her in Game 2 if we had gotten it close enough."

Raelin Chaffin on pitching around runners on base...
"I think it's just trusting my defense. A lot of plays were made by the defense that were really, really well-executed plays. They had my back the entire game. I think just having that trust, I can throw through the zone and let them make plays."

Sierra Sacco scoring early and setting the tone…
"We know she's dropball heavy, so I was hunting that early. I know what she's going to throw and what she's good at, so I'm going to hit her best pitch. I'm just trying to get on base early for my team and score a run. It was big for momentum. I know it's loud in this house, so as momentum shifts to our side, it can kind of even out the crowd a bit."

Quick Hitters

Record Day At Rhoads – The Bulldogs claimed their first run-rule victory in series history against Alabama … that win also made MSU 4-0 in conference play for the first time in program history … entering the day, MSU had never played Alabama when ranked higher than the Crimson Tide, and no ranked Bulldog squad had ever played Alabama on the road.

From The Start – State scored first in Game 1 and improved to 19-1 when scoring first … the Bulldogs scored three runs in the first two innings and had runners in scoring position in each of the first three frames … State has outscored opponents 35-11 in the first inning this year and pushed across 40.1 percent of its runs in the first two frames.

Call The Bomb Squad – MSU has scored 83 runs off homers this year, which amounts to 42.1 percent of State's scoring this season and 46.9 percent of its RBIs … eight of nine regular starters now have at least one homer this year.

Nadia Barbary – Collected two singles and drove in a run in Game 1 … now boasts eight multi-hit games, which is second on the team … added an RBI single in Game 2.

Morgan Bernardini – Launched her third home run and first of her career in SEC play.

Jessie Blaine – Hit her first home run of the season in Game 1 … recorded her fourth multi-RBI game of the season, driving in runs in three of her four trips to the plate … recorded her 100th career RBI.

Raelin Chaffin – Threw her ninth complete game of the season in Game 1 … only run allowed was unearned, scoring on an errant throw … struck out seven.

Sierra Sacco – Reached base in seven of eight plate appearance across the two games … scored four times in two games … extended her reached-base streak to 26 games and her hitting streak to a career-long 13 … added an RBI double in the first game … MSU is now 50-8 when Sacco scores a run.

Morgan Stiles – Drew a two-out walk and scored to start the rally in the second inning of Game 1 … drove in two runs in Game 2 for her fifth multi-RBI game of the year … recorded her third multi-hit game … has reached safely in five straight games.

Game 1 Scoring Recap

Top 1
Sierra Sacco opened the ballgame with a walk. She advanced to third on Nadia Barbary's single into right field. With one out, Jessie Blaine singled off the pitcher's glove, scoring Sacco.
No. 19 Mississippi State 1, No. 25 Alabama 0

Top 2
Morgan Stiles drew a two-out walk and scored on Sacco's double into left-center field. Sacco scored on Barbary's single into center field.
No. 19 Mississippi State 3, No. 25 Alabama 0

Top 5
Blaine hit a leadoff homer to left field. With two outs, Morgan Bernardini homered to center.
No. 19 Mississippi State 5, No. 25 Alabama 0

Bottom 5
Larissa Preuitt singled to first base before Alexi Pupillo walked. With one out, Kali Heivilin hit a potential double play ball, but the feed from second was errant allowing all runners to advance safely and Preuitt to score from second.
No. 19 Mississippi State 5, No. 25 Alabama 1

Top 6
Sacco led off with a single to right field and then stole second. With one out, Kiarra Sells singled off the pitcher's glove, and Sacco advanced to third. Blaine scored Sacco with a single up the middle before Kylee Edwards hit a three-run homer to left-center.
No. 19 Mississippi State 9, No. 25 Alabama 1

Game 2 Scoring Recap

Top 1
Sierra Sacco beat out an infield single to third and the throw across skipped away allowing her to reach second. She scored on Nadia Barbary's single to right field.
No. 19 Mississippi State 1, No. 25 Alabama 0

Bottom 1
Audrey Vandagriff singled to center to open the inning. Larissa Preuitt singled up the middle, and Vandagriff advanced to second but overran the base and was thrown out. Alexi Pupillo singled down the left field line, and Abby Duchscherer singled to left to load the bases. Kali Heivilin hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Preuitt. With two outs, Brooke Ellestad hit a ball down the right field line that was nearly caught with a diving effort, but the impact with the ground caused the ball to bounce free, resulting in a two-run triple for Ellestad.
No. 19 Mississippi State 1, No. 25 Alabama 3

Top 4
With two outs, Morgan Bernardini singled to third. Riley Hull then reached on a fielding error by the third baseman. Morgan Stiles doubled both runners home to tie the game, and on the very next pitch, Sacco drove in Stiles with a single up the middle.
No. 19 Mississippi State 4, No. 25 Alabama 3

Bottom 4
Marlie Giles singled to right field and was bunted to second base. With two outs, Vandagriff walked, and Preuitt beat out an infield single to load the bases. Pupillo and Duchscherer walked to bring in two runs.
No. 19 Mississippi State 4, No. 25 Alabama 5

Bottom 6
Vandagriff singled to right to open the inning. She advanced to second on a foul out up the third baseline and moved to third on a fly out to right. Duchscherer hit a two-run homer to left.
No. 19 Mississippi State 4, No. 25 Alabama 7

Next Up

The series finale is set for 1:30 p.m. CT on Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs will return home to Starkville to wait out Saturday storms before returning to Tuscaloosa.

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