Bulldogs come back to walk off Wildcats after losing first game of day to Racers
There has to be a short memory in the sport of softball at times.
In a sport where doubleheaders are very common, there are opportunities during the season to get right back on the field after a disappointing loss.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs were presented with that scenario on Saturday afternoon.
After losing a 4-1 decision to Murray State in the first game of the day, MSU was able to respond positively just a short time later for a 5-4 victory over Abilene Christian at Nusz Park and improved to 3-1 in The Snowman (Alex Wilcox Memorial).
The Bulldogs, who stand at a 15-5 record overall, were intent on not letting one loss linger in their minds and would cause another poor performance, which has been a focus for head coach Samantha Ricketts and the team.
“It's something we work on and talk about a lot,” Ricketts said. “It's the mentality of what can we learn from every game win, lose or draw and what can we take forward into the next one. We work with our sports psychologist quite a bit about that as far as that grit, next pitch mentality and not taking that one bad outing to the next game either.”
Paige Cook was in line to get the winning run batted in for MSU in the second game against Abilene
Christian with a single in the fifth inning to score Brylie St. Clair.
The Wildcats answered with a run in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game 4-4.
Cook was given another chance in the seventh and once again delivered the hit to score St. Clair for the walk-off victory.
Being familiar with the Abilene Christian pitching was a key for Cook and the Bulldogs.