Dominant pitching and timely hitting proved to be the hallmark of Mississippi State University’s softball team as they picked up five wins in the first annual Gulf Coast Classic.
MSU improved to 19-1, which marks the best 20-game start in program history. 
The Bulldog pitching staff owns a 0.46 ERA and has only allowed opponents a school-best 12 runs through 20 contests.
Head Coach Vann Stuedeman said the wins were important to build confidence heading into conference play next weekend.
“It’s huge to finish strong. It’s huge to be ready to play your next game — it’s the most important game on the schedule,” she said. “We needed to leave here finishing strong.”
The Bulldogs opened the weekend with a 6-0 win against the University of Texas at San Antonio Friday afternoon. 
Senior Logan Foulks blasted a two-run home run and classmate Heidi Shape drove in a pair of runs to seal the win. 
In Friday’s nightcap, the Bulldogs suffered their first setback of the year as they fell to No. 12 Baylor 1-0 in an eight-inning contest. 
MSU’s Alison Owen and Baylor’s Heather Stearns engaged in a pitching duel as both pitchers surrendered just 10 hits and combined for 21 strikeouts.
The Bears used a two-out RBI single in the eighth inning to push the game’s lone run across the plate. 
The Bulldogs rebounded in day two with a pair of wins against Memphis 3-2 and Nicholls State 7-0.
Junior Julia Echols led MSU in the opener against Memphis with a career-high three hits and an RBI. 
Foulks connected on her second home run of the weekend, and freshman Mackenzie Toler delivered the game-winning RBI double in the seventh inning to complete a three-run comeback.
After the Bulldogs plated solo runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to claim the lead, Owen tossed a perfect final frame to pick up her first save and claim the win for MSU.
Owen said she felt comfortable in the pressure situation and has confidence in any pitcher on the mound.
“The beautiful thing about our pitching staff is we can have starters, we can have middle-relief and we can have closers. Any pitcher on our staff can come in and fill any of those positions,” she said. “I call it our arsenal since we had three pitchers in that game. I love our pitching staff.”
In the latter game of the double header against Nicholls State, sophomore Jacey Punches tossed a complete-game, one-hit shutout to collect her sixth win on the mound this season. 
The MSU offense used patient at-bats and timely hitting to score seven runs on six walks and four hit-by-pitches. 
Shape did not record a plate appearance as she was walked and hit by three pitches, which was the most by a single player since 2004, while plating a pair of runs.
Echols said the patient at-bats allowed runners to get on base and put the team in position to win. 
“That’s the approach we want every day, and it just paid off for us (Saturday). The (coaches) are constantly reinforcing we need to get hit by pitches, and we need to get walks, and we need to lay bunts down,” she said. “Hitting is not about average — it’s about scoring and getting on base. We did a good job of that. We had five hits and seven runs — that’s Mississippi State softball.”
On the final day of the tournament, MSU posted 2-1 wins against Ohio and Texas State. Owen continued to dominate on the mound as she nearly pitched a perfect game, allowing just one runner to reach base when Dakota Pyles hit a solo home run in the third inning. 
Owen struck out 11 and brought her total to 86 on the year.
Offensively, the Dogs relied on the bats of freshman Caroline Seitz and Echols. Seitz put MSU on the board with a solo home run in the first inning, while Echols led off the fourth inning with a double and was later driven in on a sac fly by Foulks.
In the final game, SEC Freshman of the Week Alexis Silkwood tossed 6.2 innings while recording nine strikeouts in the Bulldog victory.
The Bulldogs return to action as they host UAB Tuesday at 5 p.m. before beginning conference play against No. 6 Kentucky this weekend.