Mississippi State University softball won the Bulldog Invitational this past weekend in a series of six games.
Mississippi State opened the invitational with a 9-0 run-rule victory against the University of Southern Mississippi Thursday night. MSU started the game off strong in the bottom of the first inning by earning three runs, one of which was a two-run homer by fifth-year infielder Madisyn Kennedy.
The Bulldogs kept the momentum going into the second inning as sophomore infielder Nadia Barbary secured a three-run homer and went for a career-high of three RBI’s. After not scoring in the bottom of the third inning, fifth-year utility player Paige Cook doubled home junior outfielder Sierra Sacco. Following suit, freshman infielder Salen Hawkins drove in junior infielders Jadyn Burney and Riley Hull in the fourth inning.
Behind the mound, sophomore Josey Marron tossed her third complete game of the year while striking out eight players and improving to a 5-0 season.
The Bulldogs continued their weekend by defeating Troy University in a 12-2 run-rule victory in Friday’s game. Within the first two innings, the Bulldogs had scored their 12 runs of the game. In the first inning, the first six players up to bat scored before an out was ever recorded.
Immediately after giving away the first run to Troy, junior outfielder and catcher Jessie Blaine stepped up to bat and hit her first career grand slam in the first inning of the game. Blaine’s grand slam was the 50th in program history. Cook had an excellent game herself, as she hit her sixth and seventh doubles of the season and was one RBI shy of her single-game record.
Pushing on with the weekend, the Bulldogs continued the trend, run-ruling their third team of the weekend, Alcorn State 13-2, Saturday. MSU made a season high of nine walks against Alcorn and turned five of those into runs.
Barbary went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and a three-run homer, which tied her for the team lead of 18 hits. Freshman infielder Kylee Edwards hit her first career grand slam and recorded a career-high four RBI’s.
MSU remained on fire and won their second game against Troy Saturday. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning when Edwards clocked four RBI’s, hitting one out of the park.
Edwards spoke in excitement about her success at the plate during the post-game presser.
“I would say that the past couple of games I’ve been struggling at the plate, so for me today, it was just about going back to the basics,” Edwards said. “I was pretty locked in. I knew that if she was going to throw me that changeup that I was going to hit it, so I was ready for that pitch.”
Troy answered with a two-run homer, but fifth-year pitcher Aspen Wesley shut down their momentum and made her second save of the season. Marron earned her sixth win of the year against Troy.
Mississippi State continued its winning streak of the invitational into Sunday against Alcorn State. The Bulldogs were strong defensively and did not allow the Lady Braves to get one run. The Bulldogs gained 15 runs, run-ruling Alcorn State yet again.
In the first inning, Blaine homered down to left field right after Sacco and Barbary scored. On two outs, the Bulldogs continued to score and ended the first inning with five runs. The bottom of the third inning was another big one for the Bulldogs. Hull, Edwards and freshman outfielder and catcher Ella Wesolowski all scored on a wild pitch. By the end of the third inning, the score was 13-0, and the last two runs of the game happened in the fourth inning by Burney and graduate student infielder Aquana Brownlee.
To finish off an incredible weekend, the Bulldogs earned their 10th run-rule victory of the season in the last game of the Bulldog Invitational against Samford, 11-1. The Bulldogs swept the invitation, pushing their record 17-3.
The Bulldogs will take the road to Oxford to play Ole Miss Friday and Saturday. The series finale will be played Sunday at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network.
