Softball
- Title:
- Coordinator of Softball Operations
- Phone:
- 325-0560
Head coach Samantha Ricketts announced the final piece of her full-time staff as former Bulldog standout Kayla Winkfield returns to Starkville as the program’s coordinator of softball operations.
“I am excited to bring Kayla back full time to Starkville,” Ricketts said. “She brings championship experience from her time as a pro and is a proud Mississippi State softball alum. She fits in perfectly with the strengths and goals of our new staff.”
One of the most prolific infielders in program history, Winkfield is no stranger to the softball support staff. The Giddings, Texas, native spent the 2017 season as a student assistant coach before returning to the program as a graduate assistant manager for the 2018 and 2019 campaigns all while competing on the professional level.
Winkfield will serve as the program’s primary liaison with adidas, coordinate all team travel and manage player relations. In addition, Winkfield will also oversee the MSU softball team managers.
The infielder wore the Maroon and White over the 2013-16 seasons, finishing her career ranked tied seventh in stolen bases (75) and tied for ninth in triples (10).
Over her freshman season, Winkfield closed the year third on the team with 17 stolen bases. She registered 10 hits, six walks and scored 17 runs. She held a .333 average at the plate and helped snapped MSU’s 21-game losing streak against LSU as a pinch runner when she stole a base and scored the game-winning run against the No. 12 Tigers.
She followed up that performance with 13 stolen bases as a sophomore and ranked third on the team with 106 putouts at shortstop coupled with 58 assists. She turned in a breakout performance as a junior, ending the season with a .331 average with help of 57 hits. She also slugged nine doubles and four triples.
Winkfield closed her career by leading the SEC in triples (6) and triples per game (0.11). The senior put up a .330 average in the box with 59 hits, 36 runs scored, 17 stolen bases and a .438 slugging percentage.
She became the 12th Bulldog in program history to play professionally as she was drafted as the 35th overall pick in the 2016 National Pro Fastpitch Draft by the Pennsylvania Rebellion.
In her rookie season, she led the Rebellion in batting average (.296), slugging percentage (.417) and assists (59). In January of 2017, Winkfield was signed by the Scrap Yard Fast Pitch through the 2018 season.
Over the 2017 season with Scrap Yard, Winkfield held a .262 average at the plate with 32 hits and 23 runs scored while swiping 11 bases. Defensively, she held a .963 fielding percentage with 57 putouts and 22 assists with just three errors. Her performance helped carry Scrap Yard to the 2017 Cowles Cup Championship. Winkfield wrapped up her fourth season of professional softball and her third with Scrap Yard Fastpitch over the summer of 2019.
The daughter of William and Patricia Winkfield, she was born Kayla Camille Winkfield on April 14, 1994, in Austin, Texas. She has one sister Keanna. Winkfield earned her degree in human sciences from Mississippi State in 2017. She graduated with her master’s degree in human development and family science in May of 2019.
