Softball BULLDOG BITS
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – On the back of four home runs, No. 20 Mississippi State run-ruled No. 17 Arkansas 15-7 in five innings on Sunday afternoon, securing the series for the Bulldogs.
Madisyn Kennedy started the offensive effort with a tworun homer in the first. Sierra Sacco hit her first career home run, a three-run shot, in the second inning to get MSU (247, 5-4 SEC) out to a 6-0 lead. The Bulldogs then scored nine runs, all with two outs, in the fourth inning with four extrabase hits in the frame.
"I liked the way we responded," MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We tried to be a little bit more confident in our game, trying to be more aggressive, which is something our offense does. We know (Arkansas) is a great hitting team, and they were going to score no matter what the score was. It was just kind of staying within ourselves and doing what we do in our normal approach. I thought we did a really good job of answering back, especially early on."
Ella Wesolowski had the biggest swing in the fourth, launching her first career grand slam for the Bulldogs.two batters later Salen Hawkins hit her second homer of the year. Sacco and Nadia Barbary each added another run with an RBI double.
Arkansas (24-8, 3-3 SEC) scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth and two in the fifth, but the Razorbacks could not plate enough runs to keep the run-rule from ending the game early. MSU has now won 12 games by run-rule this year, which is tied for second-most in school history and one shy of the school record set in 2008.
Track and Field
Mississippi State track and field freshman Jordan Ware was chosen the Southeastern Men's Runner of the Week for the second consecutive week, announced Tuesday.
Ware leads the nation in the 200 meters, ranks fifth in the 100 meters, and is a leg in the 4x100 meer relay that ranks 13th on the 2024 outdoor season performance list. He is the only freshman to lead two top Southeastern Conference times for the second week in a row.
The Memphis, Tenn. Native won first place in three events at the Bulldogs Alumni Relays, including an improvement in his nation-leading time in the 200 meters with a windaided time of 20.18w.
Ware highlighted the successful weekend for the Bulldogs with first place in the 100 meters (10.22), 200 meters (201.18w), and as a leg in the winning 4x100 meter relay (39.72).
On Monday, it was announced that the Bulldogs are ranked No. 3 in the first week of the USTFCAAA rating index, a program best ranking for the Mississippi State track and field team.
Women’s Tennis
Mississippi State women's tennis split a home doubleheader Sunday at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
Chris Hooshyar's Bulldogs dropped a 4-0 decision to 18th-ranked Auburn but closed out the afternoon by blanking Mississippi Valley State by the same score.
MSU (10-10, 0-6 SEC) won all four singles matches against MVSU 6-0, 6-0 and were up 6-0, 5-0 on the remaining two courts that were abandoned once the match was clinched. Doubles was not played against the 0-13 Delta Devilettes.
Maria Rizzolo downed Jacqueline Leflore, Dharani Niroshan notched a win against Naterra Young, Chloé Cirotte claimed a victory versus Toni Carter and Athina Pitta clinched her team-leading third match with a triumph over Zulema Salome.
When the match against Auburn (12-7, 6-2 SEC) was clinched, Alexandra Mikhailuk held a 6-4, 2-2 lead over No. 18 Carolyn Ansari on Court 1 and Rizzolo was waged in a war with 74th-ranked Ariana Arseneault. Rizzolo won the opening set 6-1, dropped the second 3-6 and was tied 1-1 in the third when the Tigers prevailed.
The Bulldogs hit the road for two consecutive weekends. Up first, MSU will travel to eighth-ranked Georgia on Friday at 4 p.m.