No. 18 Bulldogs Continue Eight-Game Road Trip With Stop In Birmingham

STARKVILLE – No. 18 Mississippi State softball is headed back to the state of Alabama after its first ever series win in Tuscaloosa. This time the Bulldogs are headed to Birmingham for a rematch with the UAB Blazers on Wednesday evening. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT.

The Bulldogs hit a then-season-high four homers the last time the two teams met in an 11-1 run-rule victory. Home runs have continued to be a key part of the Bulldogs' season as State already has 41 on the year, which ranks 17th nationally.

Sierra Sacco has paced the State offense, and she was named a Softball America Star of the Week following the series at Alabama. Sacco has reached base safely in 11 of her last 12 plate appearances and in 27 consecutive games, which is the ninth-longest streak in school history.

In the circle, Raelin Chaffin leads the nation with 14 wins. She's tossed 10 complete games, which ranks fourth nationally and second in the SEC.

Leading Off

SEC Start: State has started SEC play with a 5-1 record for the first time in program history. The Bulldogs swept then- No. 18 Auburn on Mar. 8-10, before winning their first-ever series in Tuscaloosa, taking two of three against then- No. 25 Alabama on Mar. 14-16. The Bulldogs are 8-2 over their last 10 conference games, dating back to last season.

Taking Down Top Teams: Samanatha Ricketts now boasts 41 victories against NFCA-ranked opponents in her coaching career, which ranks second all-time at Mississippi State. She is three away from tying to program record.

Speedy State: After two weekends of SEC play, the Bulldogs lead the league in conference games in stolen bases (8) and hits (49). Their 38 runs scored ranked second behind only No. 1/1 Oklahoma.

Sierra Sets The Table: One of the best hitters in the nation, Sierra Sacco is riding a career-long 27-game reached-base streak along with a career-long 14-game hitting streak. Her .618 on-base percentage is fourth in the nation and her .708 on-base percentage in conference games leads in the SEC. Her SEC-only batting average (.588) is second in the league. MSU is 51-8 when she scores a run since she arrived in 2024.

Winner Winner: Raelin Chaffin leads the nation with 14 wins, which includes four of MSU's five wins in conference play. The only SEC game where she did not record a win, she earned the save in relief.

Dawg Defense: State's .968 fielding percentage would be its highest in a second since 2014 (.976). Sierra Sacco has not made an error since the 2023 season, going 187 straight chances error-free, and Jessie Blaine has recorded 198 chances dating back to last season without an error. Blaine is looking to become just the sixth player in program history with a 200-chance errorless streak.

Road Trippin': MSU is in the middle of an eight-game run of true road games. This stretch is twice as long as any true road game run last year and the longest for MSU since playing nine road games in a row in 2014.

Call The Bomb Squad: State's 41 long balls rank 17^th nationally. MSU has scored 83 runs on homers this year, which accounts for 41.3 percent of its runs.

Magic Number: The Bulldogs have scored five or more runs in 69 of State's 86 wins (80.2 percent) over the past three seasons, and they are 139-15 under Samantha Ricketts when scoring at least five.

About UAB (11-16, 1-5 ACC)

Series History

Overall: 22-6 | Home: 13-3 | Away: 7-3 | Neutral: 2-0
Current Streak: Won 8 | Last Meeting: Feb. 26, 2025, in Starkville, Miss. (MSU 11, UAB 1 [5 inn.])

Notables

With their 29th meeting all-time on Wednesday, UAB will become State's third-most-common non-conference opponent. When the teams met in February, MSU hit a then-season-high four homers, scoring eight of its 11 runs by leaving the year. The Blazers were most-recently swept at home by No. 22 Florida Atlantic, but the average margin of victory in the three games was just two runs and UAB led as late as the sixth inning in two of the games. Bella Wiggins (.432) and Hannah Dorsett (.403) are both hitting above .400 coming into the game. Meanwhile, Hope Tucker ranks fifth nationally with nine sacrifice bunts.

On Deck

The Bulldogs will stay the night in Birmingham following the game before flying to Chicago to face Northwestern in a three-game series this weekend. MSU then plays at Southern Miss on March 26 before returning to Nusz Park on March 28 to host No. 2 Texas.

Follow the Bulldogs

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

No. 18 Bulldogs Continue Eight-Game Road Trip With Stop In Birmingham

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jessie Blaine

Raelin Chaffin

Sierra Sacco

Mississippi State University Athletics

No. 18 Bulldogs Continue Eight-Game Road Trip With Stop In Birmingham

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jessie Blaine

Raelin Chaffin

Sierra Sacco

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