Bulldogs Land School-Record Six On All-Region Teams

STARKVILLE – No. 18 Mississippi State saw a program-record six players named to the NFCA All-Region teams on Thursday afternoon. Highlighting the list were three First Team selections, the Bulldogs' highest total since 2019.

Sierra Sacco (OF), Raelin Chaffin (P) and Nadia Barbary (3B) were named to the First Team while Jessie Blaine (C) and Kylee Edwards (SS) were tabbed to the Second Team. Lexi Sosa (DP/UTL) rounded out the selections on the Third Team.

The Bulldogs have had multiple all-region selections in eight consecutive seasons, dating back to 2017 and excluding the canceled 2020 season when no awards were given. This year marks the third time in school history that State has had three or more First Team All-Region honorees along with 2019 (Mia Davidson, Fa Leilua and Kat Moore) and 2009 (Sammie Jo Bailey, Ali Bainbridge, Chelsea Bramlett and Ka'ili Smith).

Mississippi State will play Washington on Friday in the Lubbock Regional at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2. With a win, State would play the winner of No. 10 Texas Tech and Brown at 1 p.m. With a loss, they would play the loser of that contest at 3:30 p.m.

Nadia Barbary – First Team – Third Base

After earning her first career All-SEC honors, Barbary picked up her second All-Region award and first on the First Team. The junior has posted career highs in hits (60), extra-base hits (22), homers (10), RBIs (43) and total bases (103). She is hitting .402 with runners on base, which is second on the team, and she led MSU with 22 RBIs in SEC play.

Barbary's RBIs in league play were 11th in the conference and her SEC-only batting average (.351) was among the top 20 in the league. She was second on the team in overall batting average (.355), hits, doubles (11), total bases, multi-hit games (16) and RBIs. Additionally, she was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team at third base.

Raelin Chaffin – First Team – Pitcher

Chaffin, who was named Second Team All-SEC and one of 12 players drafted to the play in the AUSL, earned her first career All-Region honors. Entering the NCAA Tournament, she ranks 18th in the nation and leads the SEC with 21 wins and No. 33 nationally with 17 complete games, which ranks fourth in the conference. The senior ranks No. 21 nationally and third in the SEC in strikeouts (187) and leads the conference with 50 strikeouts looking.

Her career year also proved to be a historic season. She is the first Bulldog pitcher to win 20 games and make 40 appearances since 2015, and she broke the single-season school record with 10 wins in SEC play. She set a modern-era MSU record with wins in her first seven career appearances at State and the longest career-opening stretch of innings pitched without allowing an earned run (25.0) and became the first Bulldog to be named NFCA Pitcher of the Week following the first week of the season.

Sierra Sacco – First Team – Outfield

A First Team All-SEC selection, Sacco was another of the 12 players drafted to play professionally this summer. Her .461 batting average ranks eighth nationally entering the NCAA Tournament, and her .553 on-base percentage ranks 14th and would be second in MSU single-season history. Sacco also leads the team in slugging percentage, hits, runs, doubles, triples, homers, RBIs and total bases.

Sacco's 29 extra-base hits this year are more than the previous three years of her career combined (27). She leads the team with a .455 average with runners on base and is hitting at a .488 clip when runners are in scoring position. Her 22 two-out RBIs are sixth in MSU single-season history. Along with the impact she's made at the plate, the Bulldogs' centerfielder has been perfect defensively and has not made an error since the 2023 season. Along the way, she's collected four outfield assists this year.

Jessie Blaine – Second Team – Catcher

Blaine ranks third on the team with a .328 batting average and second on the squad with a .466 on-base percentage. She was even better in conference play, hitting .344 with a .590 slugging percentage and .506 on-base percentage while launching four of her five home runs on the season. Her SEC-only on-base percentage ranked sixth in the conference. She has drawn a team-leading 36 walks and driven in 32 runs.

The senior catcher has proven a valuable backstop for the Bulldogs, leading all Power Four catchers with five pickoffs and playing a key role in State breaking the school record with a nation-leading eight pickoffs this year. In addition, she has also caught three runners stealing while posting the first errorless season by a Bulldog with at least 150 chances and becoming just the sixth MSU player with an errorless streak of at least 200 chances (232).

Kylee Edwards - Second Team – Shortstop

Edwards posted impressive improvements in her sophomore campaign, raising her batting average to .295 and her slugging percentage to .530. She matched her freshman year's doubles total (8) but nearly doubled her home run output from five long balls to nine. Edwards ranked second among SEC shortstops in extra-base hits (17) and third in homers.

Defensively, she led the team with 81 assists and turned nine double plays. She now ranks fourth in MSU history among shortstops with 19 double plays turned at the position. Her diving glove-flip double play against Auburn landed on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays. On the bases, she stole a career-high seven times without being caught.

Lexi Sosa - Third Team – Designated Player/Utility

When Sosa hit her first homer of the year in the second week of the season, it was only the second time she'd left the yard in her career. From there she went on to post a double-digit home run season and 62.5 percent of her hits this year went for extra-bases. She entered the season with just 27 career at-bats, but posted a .567 slugging percentage with 29 RBIs this year. She also pitched 39.0 innings, recording two saves and 27 strikeouts in the circle.

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

Mississippi State University Athletics

Bulldogs Land School-Record Six On All-Region Teams

Players Mentioned

Nadia Barbary

Jessie Blaine

Raelin Chaffin

Kylee Edwards

Sierra Sacco

Lexi Sosa

Related Videos