Big Game Blaine

STARKVILLE – They don't call her Big Game Blaine for nothing.

With two outs, two strikes and the series opener against in-state rival Ole Miss on the line, Mississippi State softball catcher Jessie Blaine stepped to the plate to produce late-game heroics at Nusz Park on Thursday night.

The senior communications major did not miss as she blasted a two-run home run deep into center field to secure the 3-1 walk-off victory over the Rebels under the bright lights in Starkville.

With the Maroon and White faithful screaming and her teammates crowding home plate awaiting her arrival from around the basepaths, Blaine sent everyone home with a story for the ages.

"I'm just really excited for her, really proud of her too," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "I thought she handled it well, but she was disappointed when she didn't come through with the bases loaded earlier. She's such a mature hitter that she really didn't take that previous at-bat into her last at-bat, and she was really able to stay locked in with her plan. It was what she was looking for and you could tell she was right on it."

Before the game, State's graduates who will be unable to attend the commencement ceremonies on campus due to postseason softball were honored in front of a packed house. It was poetic that the two-time NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete came up to the plate for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Leading up to her storybook swing, her teammates awaited anxiously in the dugout. At the crack of the bat, every player in the dugout rose to their feet.

"I had my head down and I'm praying, and I just hear everyone screaming. I look up and everyone's going nuts, and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, she hit it over,'" senior pitcher Raelin Chaffin said. "I was super happy for her because I don't know what inning it was but she struck out, and I was thinking in my head, 'She's not due now, but she will be due later.' I was happy to see her in that moment."

With her number 22 painted on the field between first base and second base, Blaine's homer on Thursday night meant more than just securing a victory against MSU's conference rival.

She was embracing one of her final regular season games in Nusz Park in front of her friends, family and the Bulldog fans.

"I was just being in the moment and trusted that I had the ability to hit whatever she was going to throw at me," Blaine said.

Everyone in the dugout knew it was only a matter of time before she made an impact at the plate. That belief stems from her leadership and never-quit attitude that energizes the entire program.

Blaine's walk-off homer stamped a statement on the scoresheet and cemented a new nickname fit for the Pike Road, Alabama, native who continues to shine in big moments.

"This is Jessie's time right now, and she came through. We don't call her 'Big Game Blaine' for nothing," teammate Kiarra Sells said.

Mississippi State University Athletics

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