The yearly Snowman softball tournament made its return to Starkville this past weekend. The Snowman tournament honors Alex Wilcox, a former Mississippi State University softball player who passed away during her fight against ovarian cancer.
Since her passing, the MSU softball program has honored her memory in various ways. In addition to the tournament, the team wore teal ribbons in their hair and teal uniforms. A flag featuring Wilcox’s retired number flew over Nusz Park before the Bulldogs’ first game against the Longwood (VA) Lancers.
Entering the game, MSU starter Kenley Hawk had a 1.02 ERA and was 2-0 thus far in appearances. MSU’s all-time home run leader came to play as well. During her first at-bat, catcher Mia Davidson homered near the scoreboard.
The ladies went to work in the Bulldog half of the fourth. Leadoff batter Chloe Malauulu scored a home run over center field. Davidson followed and hit her second home run of the game. After every batter reaching base and a Longwood pitching change, Mia Davidson returned to the plate.
This time, she stepped up to the plate with bases loaded. For the second time in the fourth inning, and the third time on Friday, Davidson went yard.
MSU softball walked away with a 14-0 victory over the Lancers in their first game of the tournament. Davidson tied her own record for the most home runs in one game and the third most RBIs.
After the game, Davidson spoke about just how much The Snowman tournament means to the team.
“Alex (Wilcox) was the definition of hard work and competitiveness and loving the game, so being able to do this for her is very inspiring, and knowing that if I just play the game and have fun then that’s all that she wanted, so I just want to be able to keep doing that for her,” Davidson said.
Following game one, MSU took on Belmont in the second game on Friday.
Davidson moved from behind home plate to second base for game two and had some trouble with an unexpected foe in her first at-bat.
“My contact fell out and I didn’t have time to put it back in, so I just went, and then I whiffed,” Davidson said.
After the mishap, she got right back into the game. Davidson hit her fourth home run of the day in the bottom of the second. The women were victorious once again and left with an 8-0 win over Belmont. On Saturday, the Bulldogs defeated Belmont once more 7-3.
Afterwards, they faced South Alabama where Alex Wilcox’s sister, Kassidy, is a member of their team.
Kassidy Wilcox caught the first pitch thrown out by her mother, LeAnn Wilcox, before the start of the game. The first pitch reminded fans and players alike of what the tournament means.
Sunday’s games wrapped up the Snowman tournament, and the Bulldogs were set to face USA for a rematch, after a loss on Saturday night.
Strong pitching by Aspen Wesley steered the Bulldogs to a 5-0 win over the Jaguars. Wesley threw a complete game and had a strong defensive backing by her teammates, something Wesley said was incredibly valuable.
“It really helps all of us relax, to breathe, so we can kind of move around and joke around and stuff, and it helps when I can trust my defense,” Wesley said.
MSU softball walked away from The Snowman with only one loss. They’ll face Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. before hosting the Bulldog Invitational this weekend.
