Bulldogs use a fast start to get win in return home
it was the comforts of home that enabled the Mississippi State Bulldogs to start off strong against Mississippi Valley State Tuesday night.
After playing the first 15 games on the road, the Bulldogs played their first game of the season at Nusz Park and made it count for a 9-2 victory over the Delta Devils.
MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts saw her team win its sixth-straight game and improve its record to 12-4.
“It was good to be back at home finally after three weeks on the road,” Ricketts said. “I love that we came out strong and ready to play. There are definitely still some things to work on and that's what the preseason is for – to take lessons from every game we play no matter who the opponent is.
“It was good to see us finish strong there at the end and continue to use some players. We had a few banged up and we're getting a few opportunities for players. We're going to keep doing that through the weekend as well.”
After starting Bulldog pitcher Bri Bower struck out the side in the first inning, she saw the offense explode for six runs in the bottom of the frame.
Brylie St. Clair started it all with a bunt single, then Chloe Malau'ulu walked. Both runners came home on a single by Paige Cook. Cook went all of the way to third base on an error and scored on a single by Aquana Brownlee. Jackie Mckenna was awarded a one-out walk, then Saleyna Daniel hit a triple that allowed Brownlee and Mckenna to cross the plate. Daniel scored the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Matalasi Faapito.
“The main focus was jumping out, getting ahead early and playing our kind of softball,” Brownlee said. “We wanted to hit balls hard into the gap and stay with our plan.”
Mississippi Valley scored one run in the second and another in the fifth, but MSU put the game away in the sixth with three more runs. The big blow was an RBI double by Brownlee.
Brownlee had a double and single for two of the six hits for the Bulldogs, while St. Clair had two singles. The only other extra base hit was the triple by Daniel.
Bower went the first three innings in the circle for MSU and gave up one earned run on one hit with six strikeouts and two walks.
“I had my teammates out in the dugout cheering me on and I had great fielders behind me when the other team put the ball in play,” Bower said. “It made me feel good. Jackie did a great job behind the plate framing the pitches.”
Grace Fagan followed Bower with three innings of work and Faapito closed it out with one inning in the seventh.
Fagan gave up a solo home run in the fifth, but Ricketts was happy to see her and Bower react well to giving up a run.
“It was good to get (Bower) a start, get her out there and get her some innings,” Bower said. “You need a full pitching staff. She is very talented so it was good to see her go out there, attack and bounce back after giving up the run. It was the same with Grace. I thought they responded well to adversity when they faced it.”
The Bulldogs will host The Snowman Classic (Alex Wilcox Memorial) this weekend with Friday opponents being Dartmouth at 12:30 p.m. and Abilene Christian at 3 p.m.