Bulldogs edge Lions to begin Invitational

It would have been easy for the Mississippi State Bulldogs to fold on Thursday night after giving up a 5-1 lead in the fifth inning.

Instead, MSU found a way to dig deep and got the job done.

The Bulldogs scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth and defeated the Southeastern Louisiana Lions 6-5 to lead off the Bulldog Invitational with a victory at Nusz Park.

“We showed a lot of fight,” MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “It was good to see up and down the lineup everybody contributing.that's a really good team over there. They play hard and they are well-coached every year.”

The Lions saw their record slip to 18-3, while the Bulldogs improved to 17-5 ahead of tonight's 6 p.m. matchup against No. 1 Oklahoma.

After Southeastern Louisiana tied the game with three runs in the fifth inning and one more in the sixth, MSU got the deciding tally in the bottom of the sixth when pinch runner Kate Wallace scored on a sacrifice fly by Brylie St. Clair.

St. Clair was not worried about the Bulldogs coming back in that situation and was just glad to be a part of the process.

“We're gritty, blue collar and real hard working,” St. Clair said. “Coming back was really just something we were determined to do. I was keeping it simple and just tried to do my job. The people in front of me really came through.”

MSU did most of its damage offensively earlier in the game. Nadia Barbary singled with two outs in the second inning to drive home Paige Cook and gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. Cook singled to lead off the frame.

After the Lions tied the game with a run in the top of the fourth, MSU responded with four runs on three hits in its half of the inning. Barbary had another RBI single to score Aquana Brownlee, while Kiersten Landers, Madisyn Kennedy and Barbary also came across the plate.

Barbary and Chloe Malau'ulu had two singles each to lead the Bulldogs offensively. Macy Graf had the only extra base hit with a sixth-inning double.

Kenley Hawk earned the win for MSU in relief of Matalasi Faapito in the circle. Hawk worked 2.2 innings and improved her record to 2-3. Hawk and Faapito had four strikeouts each.

“We all wanted to be there for each other,” Hawk said about how the Bulldogs wanted to finish the game.