Despite rain canceling a day of games, Mississippi State University’s softball started off their weekend 4-0, starting their season with the Bulldog Kickoff Classic.
The Bulldogs were set to compete in a total of five games over the span of three days, but weather prevented any games on Saturday.
The opening day of the 2018 softball season consisted of a perfect game. The Bulldogs competed in a doubleheader where they put up back-to-back shutouts against the Mississippi Valley State University Devilettes, grabbing a 10-0 victory, beating the Omaha Mavericks 8-0 victory, despite a 2-hour rain delay.
Holly Ward threw a perfect game against the Devilettes, the second perfect game in program history. The first player to throw a perfect game was Jenny Hehnke in 1997 against Alabama State University.
“We were pumped to be back on the field again at Nusz Park,” Ward said. “Calyn Adams and Mia Davidson behind the plate were really working for me. Mia was getting calls left and right and blocking balls up. Calyn closed the game with me. She did a great job. Sarai Niu, she took a beating. She told me afterward that that was for my perfect game. It shows that they’ve got my back, and I’ve got theirs.”
The Bulldogs came out aggressively and dominated on the defense as well as the offense against MVSU and Omaha.
“I feel pretty good about the day,” head coach Vann Stuedeman said. “We had productive hitting against both opponents. Timely hitting was very well today. Pitching, obviously, was very well today. We had 24 strikeouts on the day. I’m excited about Holly Ward’s perfect game, second one in program history. We really put the bat on the ball well. We played great defense. We didn’t have any errors on the day. For opening day, that’s a good way to dust off the cobwebs.”
The final day of the Classic was no different from opening day, MSU shutout Missouri State University with a score of 5-0, and Mississippi Valley State University 8-0.
The Bulldogs started off slow against Missouri State but eventually adapted to Missouri State’s defense to clinch the Bulldog Kickoff Classic title.
“Another good day, especially being patient to sit out the rain all day yesterday,” Stuedeman said. “I think it took us a little bit this morning to get started against Missouri State. Offensively, we have to make some adjustments a little quicker. Pitcher-wise, I feel like we need to throw a few more strikes. We had way too many walks in the first game.”
In the final game of the Classic, freshman Emily Williams recorded her first career start against Mississippi Valley State. The Devilettes combated the Bulldog’s offense and held them scoreless until the bottom of the second inning, where freshman O’Neil Roberson recorded her first collegiate hit as a one-out single to the right field.
MSU’s offense soon emerged to score back-to-back singles, and Kat Moore shortly added to the score with a leadoff home run. Morgan Bell then increased MSU’s lead with a three-run hit to increase the score to 7-0. Mia Davidson capitalized off a single to the left side to bring the final score to 8-0.
Davidson was named SEC Freshman of the Week for her efforts over the weekend.  She is the first SEC Freshman of the Week since former MSU pitcher Alexis Silkwood in 2014. The Hillsborough, North Carolina, native hit for a .667 average and had a slugging percentage of 1.333. 
MSU will be back in action on Thursday, as they take on UT Martin at 4:00 p.m. in Starkville. The SEC Network Alternate Channel will televise the game.