Goold Blanks No. 23 South Carolina To Even Series

Sunday, March 29

Starkville

6 p.m.

Mississippi State

31-7, 3-5

#23 South Carolina

22-14, 2-6

South Carolina

Mississippi State

Goold Blanks No. 23 South Carolina To Even Series

March 29, 2026 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes Highlights Press Conference

By: Brian Ogden, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – No. 12 Mississippi State evened the series with No. 23 South Carolina by scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 2-0 victory.

Peja Goold started in the circle for the Bulldogs (31-7, 3-5 SEC), spinning a two-hit shutout while striking out nine batters. Goold has thrown nine complete games this season with seven shutouts.

"I mean, we've got one of the best pitching staffs in the country, and it's shown," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "That just really makes our job to make the routine plays behind him and find a way to get some timely hits in for them. I just love the competitiveness and the fire that they have out there. We just know that we've got a really good chance to win when our staff is on the mound. I love that [Goold] kept us in there and answered right back anytime they had a base runner on. It is going to take a whole team effort tomorrow for Game 3 of a series here."

Manufacturing the winning runs began when Nadia Barbary led off the sixth with her second single of the game. Paige Ernstes bunted the pinch runner, Ally Supan, to second. A Gamecock error allowed Supan to score and put another Bulldog in scoring position. Kinley Keller dealt the knockout blow with an RBI single to center to extend the lead.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on the Bulldogs evening the series …
"Yeah, I just really love the response. I think this team has done a great job of that all year long and bouncing back. The energy, the focus, the intent, starting from warmups, and then the dugout was just locked in from the first pitch on. I think that really was something that we needed. I think that inspired the offense. We were doing a better job, swinging within our plans and finding runners on base. We just needed to cash in, and we got a big two-out hit from Kinley Keller there, late in the game. I love the fight. I love the bounce back, and just doing the little things, right. Getting the bunt down that was huge for us after yesterday. Aggressive base running by Ally Supan out there. Just a good team win with good fight and grittiness, which is something we know we're going to need in this league."

Kinley Keller on her approach before her RBI single…
"Coach Zac [Shaw] and [Coach Bratton] just said, you're going to get all outside and to stay through the ball and just do it."

Peja Goold on the offense's two runs in the sixth...
"It was awesome. I'm not going to lie. I got a little superstitious. I was in the bathroom for a second and stayed there for about three batters because we got something rolling, and I wasn't going to ruin it."

Quick Hitters

Nadia Barbary – Went 2-for-3 to extend her hitting streak to four games and her reached base streak to seven … now second on the team with 11 multi-hit games.

Peja Goold – Struck out nine … tossed her second consecutive complete game shutout … ninth complete game and seventh shutout of the year … did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the fourth … matched her season high with 102 pitches tonight.

Kinley Keller – Produced an RBI single … batting .467 (7-for-15) with runners in scoring position this season.

Kiarra Sells – Has reached safely in 12 of her last 17 plate appearances with six walks in that span … has reached safely in seven straight games.

Morgan Stiles – Went 2-for-3 for her 11th multi-hit game of the season … ranks second on the team in multi-hit games … has reached base in nine straight games with a hit in three straight.

Scoring Recap

Bottom 6
Nadia Barbary led off with a single to center field, and Ally Supan pinch ran at first. Paige Ernstes bunted Supan to second. With one out, Morgan Bernardini reached second on a throwing error by the shortstop that allowed Supan to score on the play. Gretta Grassel pinch ran for Bernardini at second. Kiarra Sells walked before Kinley Keller singled to center field, scoring Grassel.
No. 23 South Carolina 0, No. 12 Mississippi State 2

Next Up

The series finale is set for 6 p.m. CT on Monday night on SEC Network. Ricketts will be mic'd up for the broadcast as part of SEC Network's weekly Mic'd Up Monday showcase.

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