The Mississippi State University Bulldog softball team hosted SEC rival No. 18 Missouri in Starkville for a three-game series over the weekend. 
After the dust cleared Saturday night, the visiting Tigers claimed the series with wins in the opening and closing games of the matchup.
Despite losing the series, the Bulldogs were able to take one positive from the weekend. With its win in the opener of Saturday’s doubleheader, the team reached 30 wins on the season and is off to its second-best start in program history.
In the series opener, Missouri was able to tally 14 total hits while allowing only two en route to a 6-0 victory. 
The Bulldogs were able to rebound quickly from their loss in the opener with a resounding 9-3 victory in the second game of the series.
Senior Allison Owen earned her 15th win of the season, striking out nine Tigers while allowing only three runs in the contest.
Head Coach Van Stuedeman said she was proud of her “strikeout machine” for her ability to manage the game in its later moments.
“She felt like she was throwing well, in control and figuring out the hitters,” Stuedeman said. “She really just put it in cruise control late in the game and did an awesome job.”
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first after senior catcher Sam Lenahan drilled a two-run home run over the left field fence. Alexis Silkwood lined a single up the middle to bring in Caroline Seitz and push the Bulldogs advantage to 3-0.
Owen stressed the importance of her team,s aptitude to disregard the lack of hitting from the previous night’s loss to give her an early cushion in the opener Saturday.
“It was huge for our hitters to come out with that confidence. Everyone played their hearts out, and I just tried to feed off of that,” said Owen.
Missouri was able to trim the MSU lead to 3-1 in the top of the third, but the Bulldogs responded quickly with two runs in the bottom of the frame to push the lead to 5-1.
The Tigers added another run in the fourth, but the Bulldogs answered the bell yet again and scored four runs in the same inning to secure the victory. 
In the final matchup of the series, the visiting team claimed an 8-1 victory over MSU. Missouri drew first blood in the top of the second when a single by Ashtin Stevens brought in two runs to put the score at 2-0. After plating four runs in the fourth inning, the Tigers increased their lead to 6-0.
The Bulldogs’ got on the board in the bottom of the third, with Lenahan hitting an infield single to send in MSU’s lone run of the game. Missouri sent in another run in the fourth after Fleming doubled off the left center wall and was later batted in by a Corrin Genovese single.
Missouri’s final run came via Kelli Schkade’s solo homerun in the seventh. 
Lenahan was the star of the weekend for the Bulldogs, going 5-7 with the early homerun in MSU’s victory Saturday.
“We had a lot better approaches and higher quality at bats in the second game than in the game Friday,” Lenahan said. “It’s always better to win the series, but we’ll take what we can get.”
The MSU softball team resumes its season Wednesday at No. 11 South Alabama before hosting No. 1 Alabama during Super Bulldog Weekend.