No. 12 State Drops Series Opener To No. 23 South Carolina

Saturday, March 28

Starkville

2 p.m.

Mississippi State

30-7, 2-5

#23 South Carolina

22-13, 2-5

South Carolina

Mississippi State

No. 12 State Drops Series Opener To No. 23 South Carolina

March 28, 2026 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes Photo Gallery

By: Brian Ogden, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – No. 12 Mississippi State lost the series opener to No. 23 South Carolina, 2-0, on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs (30-7, 2-5 SEC) left seven runners on base with runners stranded in scoring position in the first and third frames. State was just 2-for-15 with runners on base.

"I think every weekend in this conference you have to be ready," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "Everybody's got deep staffs and just quality teams up and down the league. I think [South Carolina] did a good job coming out and attacking. We didn't really do a great job of responding. Alyssa [Faircloth] did what she was supposed to do. She kept us in the game. She fought, and she just continued to give us a chance. I hate we wasted an outing and just didn't show much fight offensively for her. Credit to South Carolina coming in and doing what they needed to do, finding a way to scrap some runs across and throwing the way they were today."

The game remained scoreless for five innings. The only runs came home on a two-out bases loaded single for South Carolina (22-13, 2-5 SEC) in the top of the sixth.

Alyssa Faircloth put up a fight in the circle for MSU, striking out nine batters in her eighth complete game of the season. She allowed just one walk and made a diving catch on a potential sacrifice bunt with a runner on second.

At the plate, Morgan Bernardini led the team with two singles. State's first four hitters all collected singles with Morgan Stiles also drawing a walk to reach twice.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on what the postgame message was to the team...
"We usually keep it short, try and let everybody decompress a little bit. We'll get back after it tomorrow with some film. The message really was, 'This is why everyone's here in this conference. You chose to play in the SEC for this competitiveness and knowing every team is going to be great. You can't expect anything to be handed to you.' We need to come out ready to play and have our pitchers' backs. That's something I feel like we didn't do well today."

Alyssa Faircloth on her outing this afternoon…
"It was not my sharpest day, but it also was not my worst day. I feel like I tried to battle and work with what I had. I feel like I tried keeping my team in there as long as I could, but we are going to get there with the bats. I feel like if our pitching staff can continue to keep the runs low, we will have a really good shot."

Morgan Bernardini on leaving runners on base…
"It is pretty tough for sure. You see the runners on, and then we just leave them stranded. That is a big process point for us, and right now we are not reaching that. In the dugout we are just trying to keep our spirits up and not let it drag us down, but we can definitely do a better job with that."

Quick Hitters

Nadia Barbary – Extended her hitting streak to three games and her reached base streak to six.

Morgan Bernardini – Collected two singles for her fifth multi-hit game of the year.

Alyssa Faircloth – Struck out nine batters in 7.0 innings pitched … threw her eighth complete game of the season … made a diving catch on a bunt in the sixth … walked none.

Des Rivera – Caught a runner stealing to end the sixth inning … has caught four runners this season.

Morgan Stiles – Has reached base in eight straight games.

Scoring Recap

Top 6
Tori Ensley doubled to left-center to start the inning. She advanced to third on a one-out single by Jamie Mackay. Nia McKnight pinch ran for Mackay and stole second. Lexi Winters reached on a fielder's choice to third base to load the bases as Ensley retreated to third safely. With two outs, Alyssa Hovermale singled to bring two runners home.
No. 23 South Carolina 2, No. 12 Mississippi State 0

Next Up

The series continues on Sunday night with the game televised nationally on SEC Network. First pitch from Nusz Park is scheduled for 6 p.m.

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