After dropping six of nine games on the road during spring break, the Mississippi State University softball team returned home with a pair of midweek wins over Southeastern Louisiana University and Samford University.
The Bulldogs started the week with a 2-1 win over the SELU Lions Tuesday night. MSU struck for a run in the first and second innings as the pitching staff limited the SELU bats to just three hits to solidify the win. 
Sophomore pitcher Jacey Punches picked up her seventh win of the year as she tossed four innings and struck out three batters. Punches said the victory on the mound and defensive support came at the right time following the tough road trip.
“I think I did pretty well. I definitely needed a good outing, and the team had my back the whole way. It’s nice to start the game and get some runs on the board,” she said. “The defense had my back. (Jessica) Offutt made a great diving catch in the outfield, and it was just a great game.”
Clinching to a 2-0 lead heading to the final frame, freshman Alexis Silkwood surrendered a leadoff home run but responded with consecutive strikeouts and a groundout to seal the win.
Head Coach Vann Stuedeman said she was proud of the way Silkwood responded to finish the game. 
“I thought she maintained composure,” she said. “The rule is, if we make an error or give up a hit, we get the very next one out. It’s a ‘right back’ mentality, and that’s what she did. She came right back and got the next out.”
Offensively, the Bulldogs scratched out the pair of runs on six hits and left 11 runners on base. Stuedeman said despite the limited run production, the team still executed offensively.
“We dominated the process of the game. We don’t have a whole lot of runs to show for it, but if we had one timely hit the score would have been completely different. We ran the bases well, we executed when we needed to execute and we put a lot of barrels on the ball,” Stuedeman said. “It’s easy to get frustrated if you didn’t like your swing or you didn’t like the strike call. Don’t think about what just happened; think about what we’re going to do. We’re never up by enough, and we’re never down too far in the count.”
Junior Julia Echols collected a pair of hits and an RBI and said the team looks forward to earning more wins.
“A win is a win, and we’re glad to get it especially with how everything has been. We’re trying to look in the windshield and not look back and grind out some wins,” she said. “Our pitchers looked good today. We had some barrels right at people, and we’re just trying to work the process and not necessarily run up the scoreboard.”
MSU followed Tuesday’s win with a 9-1 comeback victory over Samford Wednesday.
Trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning, the Bulldogs exploded for nine runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, including a grand slam from senior Heidi Shape in the fifth.
Shape, who collected her second grand slam of her career, credited her teammates for the offensive production.
“It starts with teammates getting on, and they gave me the opportunity,” Shape said. “I was just able to put a good swing on a good pitch and was able to score the runners that were on.”
MSU found timely hitting as it plated the nine runs on nine hits and limited its runners left on base to six. 
Stuedeman said quality and patient at-bats helped the team carry momentum throughout the game offensively.
“We’re really looking for getting 50 percent or more of quality at-bats, and I think (Wednesday) we had 18 of 25. That’s what we’re really focusing on,” she said. “We believe the timely hit will come if we continue to put up the quality at-bats. We were loading the quality at-bats early, and then finally Heidi Shape gets the timely hit to solidify the run support.”
The Bulldogs complete a five-game home stand with Marshall this weekend. The series begins with a double header Saturday at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. before the Sunday finale at 12 p.m.
Echols said the home series is beneficial to building momentum before the Dogs return to conference play.
“It feels good to get our fans’ support,” she said. “You’re just comfortable at home, and we’re looking to get some ‘W’s and start getting momentum back as we get back into SEC the following weekend.”