Friday, March 20
Athens, Ga.
5 p.m.
Mississippi State
at
#15 Georgia
Top-15 Matchup Awaits State At Georgia This Weekend
March 19, 2026 | Softball
ATHENS, Ga. – A consensus top-15 matchup is on deck for No. 11/12 Mississippi State this weekend in the SEC's battle of the Bulldogs. State will play three games at No. 15/13 Georgia beginning with a nationally-televised contest on SEC Network at 5 p.m. CT on Friday night.
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The final two games of the series are both set for 1 p.m. on SEC Network+ on Saturday and Sunday.
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MSU (28-4, 1-2 SEC) is coming off of a hard-fought series against No. 1 Tennessee that saw the Bulldogs hand the Lady Vols their only loss this season. Meanwhile, Georgia (21-7, 1-2 SEC) did not play any softball last weekend during its SEC bye week, instead playing home midweeks on March 10 and March 18.
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Mississippi State's pitching staff continues to prove it is one of the most dominant in the sport this season. The Bulldogs have averaged 10.2 strikeouts per game over the last 10 games and lead the nation in total strikeouts by a 46-punchout margin. State is one of three teams nationally allowing less than 1.50 runs per game, and the Bulldogs rank first or second nationally in fielding percentage, ERA, strikeout-to-walk ratio, strikeouts per seven innings, strikeout rate and fielding independent pitching.
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Record Rankings: State checks in at No. 11 in this week's NFCA Coaches' Poll, which is its highest ranking in any poll in program history. Prior to this year, the Bulldogs had climbed as high as No. 15 in 2008. MSU has its highest ranking ever in three of the four polls this week.
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Top-Tier Pitching: This weekend's series saw two of the top pitching staffs in the nation go head-to-head with 18 of the 23 innings played being scoreless and an average of just 6.0 combined hits per game. The first two games were both scoreless through at least the sixth inning.
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Down On Strikes: Alyssa Faircloth ranks third in total strikeouts (137) and has struck out 46.4 percent of the hitters she's faced, which is second nationally. Faircloth and Peja Goold have both reached 100 strikeouts this year and are among the top five in MSU history in fewest innings needed to reach that mark.
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State's Staff Stats: Mississippi State leads the nation in strikeouts (296), strikeouts looking (60) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.17). State is averaging 10.2 strikeouts per game over its last 10 games.
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Win The Late Innings: The Bulldogs have outscored opponents 39-10 in the sixth inning and later this season.
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Big Fish: Redshirt freshman Taylor Troutman provided the walk-off home run against No. 1 Tennessee last weekend. She also homered against the Lady Vols in the bottom of the ninth on Friday night. Troutman is hitting .500 as a pinch hitter with three extra-base hits and a walk.
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Details On Des: Des Rivera leads the team with four sacrifice flies, which is tied for fourth in school history and one shy of the single-season record. She is one of seven players nationally without a strikeout this year.
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Dawg Defense: MSU leads the nation with a .989 fielding percentage and just nine errors through 32 games. Both the percentage and error total would be school records. All outfielders combined have made just one error.
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Head Coach: Tony Baldwin | Record at UGA: 184-82 (4th Year) | Career Record: 184-82 (4th Year)
Batting Average: .359 | Runs Per Game: 7.39 | Hits Per Game: 8.89 | Slugging Pct: .644
ERA: 3.40 | K/7: 6.50 | K/BB Ratio: 2.09 | Opp. Batting Avg: .245
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Current Streak: Won 1 | Last Series: May 3-5, 2024, MSU won in Starkville, Miss. (G1: MSU, 2-0 | G2: UGA, 5-0 | G3: MSU, 2-1)
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MSU then prepares for its annual Monday night series, hosting No. 21/24 South Carolina on March 28-30 with Sunday and Monday night's games airing nationally on SEC Network.
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The final two games of the series are both set for 1 p.m. on SEC Network+ on Saturday and Sunday.
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MSU (28-4, 1-2 SEC) is coming off of a hard-fought series against No. 1 Tennessee that saw the Bulldogs hand the Lady Vols their only loss this season. Meanwhile, Georgia (21-7, 1-2 SEC) did not play any softball last weekend during its SEC bye week, instead playing home midweeks on March 10 and March 18.
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Mississippi State's pitching staff continues to prove it is one of the most dominant in the sport this season. The Bulldogs have averaged 10.2 strikeouts per game over the last 10 games and lead the nation in total strikeouts by a 46-punchout margin. State is one of three teams nationally allowing less than 1.50 runs per game, and the Bulldogs rank first or second nationally in fielding percentage, ERA, strikeout-to-walk ratio, strikeouts per seven innings, strikeout rate and fielding independent pitching.
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Game Coverage
Friday, March 20
5 p.m. – at Georgia | Watch on SEC Network | Live StatsÂ
Saturday, March 21
1 p.m. – at Georgia | Watch on SEC Network+ | Live StatsÂ
Sunday, March 22
1 p.m. – at Georgia | Watch on SEC Network+ | Live StatsÂ
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Leading Off
Toppling Tennessee: For the second year in a row, Mississippi State defeated the nation's top-ranked team at home last weekend, handing No. 1 Tennessee its only loss in walk-off fashion in Game 2 after taking the Lady Vols to extra innings in the first game of the series.Â
Record Rankings: State checks in at No. 11 in this week's NFCA Coaches' Poll, which is its highest ranking in any poll in program history. Prior to this year, the Bulldogs had climbed as high as No. 15 in 2008. MSU has its highest ranking ever in three of the four polls this week.
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Top-Tier Pitching: This weekend's series saw two of the top pitching staffs in the nation go head-to-head with 18 of the 23 innings played being scoreless and an average of just 6.0 combined hits per game. The first two games were both scoreless through at least the sixth inning.
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Down On Strikes: Alyssa Faircloth ranks third in total strikeouts (137) and has struck out 46.4 percent of the hitters she's faced, which is second nationally. Faircloth and Peja Goold have both reached 100 strikeouts this year and are among the top five in MSU history in fewest innings needed to reach that mark.
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State's Staff Stats: Mississippi State leads the nation in strikeouts (296), strikeouts looking (60) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.17). State is averaging 10.2 strikeouts per game over its last 10 games.
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Win The Late Innings: The Bulldogs have outscored opponents 39-10 in the sixth inning and later this season.
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Big Fish: Redshirt freshman Taylor Troutman provided the walk-off home run against No. 1 Tennessee last weekend. She also homered against the Lady Vols in the bottom of the ninth on Friday night. Troutman is hitting .500 as a pinch hitter with three extra-base hits and a walk.
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Details On Des: Des Rivera leads the team with four sacrifice flies, which is tied for fourth in school history and one shy of the single-season record. She is one of seven players nationally without a strikeout this year.
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Dawg Defense: MSU leads the nation with a .989 fielding percentage and just nine errors through 32 games. Both the percentage and error total would be school records. All outfielders combined have made just one error.
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About Georgia (21-7, 1-2 SEC)
Rankings: NFCA Coaches – 15 | USA Softball – 13 | D1Softball – 14 | Softball America – 11Head Coach: Tony Baldwin | Record at UGA: 184-82 (4th Year) | Career Record: 184-82 (4th Year)
Batting Average: .359 | Runs Per Game: 7.39 | Hits Per Game: 8.89 | Slugging Pct: .644
ERA: 3.40 | K/7: 6.50 | K/BB Ratio: 2.09 | Opp. Batting Avg: .245
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Series History
Overall: 32-35 | Home: 18-15 | Away: 12-17 | Neutral: 2-3Current Streak: Won 1 | Last Series: May 3-5, 2024, MSU won in Starkville, Miss. (G1: MSU, 2-0 | G2: UGA, 5-0 | G3: MSU, 2-1)
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Notables
Georgia senior Sarah Gordon is tied for the SEC lead with 11 doubles and ranks ninth in the league in batting average (.486). Gordon was the D1Softball and Softball America national player of the week in February after going 12-for-18 with 10 RBIs at the Clearwater Invitational. Both Bulldog squads opened SEC play with top-10 opponents, going 1-2 in those series. Georgia had last weekend off from conference play and did not play. The Bulldogs have won their two midweeks between SEC play. UGA's .987 fielding percentage trails only MSU nationally, and the Red and Black rank 11th in slugging percentage.Â
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On Deck
The Bulldogs return at home for their final midweek game of the season on Wednesday, March 25. State will host UT Martin at 6 p.m. with the game airing on SEC Network+.Â
MSU then prepares for its annual Monday night series, hosting No. 21/24 South Carolina on March 28-30 with Sunday and Monday night's games airing nationally on SEC Network.
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Follow the Bulldogs
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."Â
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Players Mentioned
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INF
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