Mississippi State (16-5) went 4-1 on the weekend in the annual Snowman Alex Wilcox Memorial Invitational with wins against Dartmouth, Abilene Christian and Murray State. 
The first day saw the Bulldog bats as hot as they’ve been all season with a pair of victories over Dartmouth and ACU, respectively, by a combined score of 13-2. Just as impressive as the MSU hitting, though, was the performances in the circle.
Freshman pitcher Josey Marron threw a no-hitter through six innings and earned the win in MSU’s first game of the tournament before Grace Fagan relieved her. Marron mentioned how it felt to play in her first Snowman tournament postgame.
“It’s really meaningful. Coach Ricketts, Mia [Davidson] and Grace [Fagan] all talk about Alex [Wilcox] and her legacy, so getting to play for something bigger than just the game is super important to us,” Marron said. 
Day two saw the only struggles of the weekend for MSU, as the first matchup with Murray State resulted in MSU’s only loss of the weekend. The Racers came with their ace, Jenna Veber (6-2), and held MSU in check at the plate for the full seven innings. The final score rested at 4-1, Racers. 
Abilene Christian did not have as much of an answer as Murray did, however, despite keeping the Bulldogs at bay until the last possible moment, when a Paige Cook RBI single scored Brylie St. Clair from second to walk it off in the bottom of the seventh. 
Cook has been a cornerstone of the MSU lineup for the past two seasons now, and head coach Samantha Ricketts had complete faith in the senior infielder in the moment. 
“Yeah, I mean, Paige is a great hitter, and she has been her whole career … it’s [the moment] never too big for her. I think she did a really good job of staying within herself and knowing how to have team at bats,” said Ricketts. 
Cook is now hitting .380 on the year with a pair of home runs and 16 RBIs.
Walk-offs seemed to be the theme of the weekend from that point forward. In its final matchup with Murray State Sunday, MSU ended the affair in extra innings 5-3 after senior outfielder Chloe Malau’ulu sent a two run shot to deep left field that brought every fan in Nusz Park out of their seat. 
Malau’ulu has provided her fair share of clutch performances for her team during her four years in Starkville, and Sunday was no different. Malau’ulu was calculated in the clutch, though, and waited for her pitch.  
“I knew that the new pitcher that was coming in had more drop spin than the last girl, so that’s my pitcher. I was ready to hit, green light all the way,” said Malau’ulu. 
MSU softball elevated itself to a 16-5 record over the weekend and looks to host their toughest opponent of the year next weekend as the No. 1 ranked University of Oklahoma Sooners come to Starkville for a pair of matchups on the diamond. 
First, though, they’ll face off with Southeastern Louisiana in game one of the Bulldog Invitational this Thursday, with the first pitch coming at 6:30 p.m. All games of the Bulldog Invitational will be broadcast on SEC Network+.