Short but Sweet

It could be considered the best season in Mississippi State softball history even though it was a shortened one.

Despite only playing 28 games due to the circumstances surrounding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Bulldogs had a 25-3 record and finished No. 20 in the final NFCA and USA Softball polls.

That ranking school history.

“Our goal from day one was we wanted to be a top 20 team,” MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts said Tuesday in a video conference call with reporters. “Seeing us up there was really exciting and we try to look at a lot of this as a positive as instead of looking at where we could have been and where we could have finished.

“I think we'll take that as ‘hey,

is the highest in there is a goal for us that we accomplished,' and how we move forward from that for next season.”

The Bulldogs ended the season with a 14-game winning streak and had 11 shutouts this season. MSU and No. 1 UCLA were the only two teams in the nation with 25 victories.

As brief as the schedule was, Ricketts said there was impressive play that took place on the field.

“I really enjoyed what the team did all year long,” Ricketts said. “The record and the stats really showed that. The biggest improvement was obviously our pitching staff. To be able to return all of them and getting them another year with (pitching) coach (Josh) Johnson is going to be really huge for us.

“Overall, as a team, there are a lot strengths. It's the most balanced we've been in a while. It's the best offense and defense we've had on the