Willis' no-hitter highlight during MSU split of two
RUSTON, La. – Mississippi State softball split a pair of games on Saturday, defeating Louisiana Tech 2-0 before falling to No. 1 Oklahoma, 9-0.
Annie Willis tossed the 23rd no-hitter in school history against the Lady Techsters, striking out 10 and allowing just two baserunners on a walk and hit-by-pitch.
“Honestly, I didn't really know I had that until the very last pitch of the last inning,” Willis said. “I kind of just felt a sense of calmness throughout our entire team. Pitch-by-pitch we were all locked in, every single pitch, every single inning. It was a great, solid team win altogether.”
The Lady Techsters (13-17, 3-1 C-USA) nearly broke up Willis' bid in the bottom of the sixth, but Brylie St. Clair made a long running grab at the wall in the left-center field gap to keep them out of the hit column.
Carter Spexarth provided all the offense on the day. In the first inning, Chloe Malau'ulu was hit by a pitch and stole second before Spexarth drove her in with a single up the middle. In the sixth inning, she hit a solo home run.
“I thought (Willis) really did a good job,” MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “Really her first inning wasn't as sharp. I thought she got stronger as she went on. I think she went 3-2 on the first batter of the game. I thought she settled down a little bit and just started attacking and getting ahead. She ended up with four innings of 15 pitches or less, which is key to make sure she can keep rolling without too high of a pitch count at the end.”
State's (20-16, 0-9 SEC) second game of the day went just five innings. The No. 1 Sooners (29-0, 6-0 Big 12) hung eight runs on the board in the third inning and tacked on a ninth in the fourth. A bases-loaded single opened the scoring before three straight wild pitches unloaded the bases. A sacrifice fly and a three-run homer rounded out the third inning. An RBI double plated Oklahoma's final run.