Aspen Wesley throws complete-game shutout to lead Mississippi State to game one win in NCAA Regional
NCAA Tournament play started off the right way for Mississippi State softball on Friday evening.
Playing on the West coast in the Stanford Regional, State found itself in a pitcher’s duel against Cal State Fullerton. That was right where the Bulldogs wanted to be as senior Aspen Wesley put together a dominant performance.
A complete-game shutout from Wesley led the way as State needed just one run to get the job done in a 1-0 opening round win.
The Neshoba Central product threw all 7.0 innings and scattered six hits and two walks while striking out four batters. Two of those strikeouts came in the final inning.
“Just putting all the trust in my defense,” Wesley said of her game. “We work on this for so long and this is the time we all have to come through together. I think I’ve practiced that plenty of time in the bullpen and I wanted to make sure that they didn’t get free bases.”
Wesley (15-6) gave up a two-out single and an error on the throw moved that runner in scoring position in the seventh inning. Despite that pressure with the tying run in scoring position, Wesley calmly got the Bulldogs out of the ball game with a strikeout to end it and advanced the team to the Winner’s Bracket.
The Bulldogs needed every bit of the effort from Wesley as they were shut down at the plate for most of the game as well. State had just two hits and a walk in the game but the two hits would prove to be massive.
Sierra Sacco started the fourth inning by breaking up a no-hitter as she singled into center field. With two outs, veteran Matalasi Faapito would drive her in with a two-strike down down the line in right field that would score the only run of the ball game.
Faapito was the only player on the team to reach twice as she also walked in the ball game.
MSU (34-18) now tries to advance to the championship game of the Regional if the Bulldogs can earn a win on Saturday. State will play the winner of Stanford and Mt. St. Mary’s at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon on ESPN+. Wesley and her teammates are excited to have the opportunity after a disappointing season last year getting left out of the tournament completely.
“After we didn’t get chosen it was kind of embarrassing,” Wesley said. “We all put our head down and went to work and you can tell every person on this team went to work. We worked so hard and pushed each other and that’s all you can ask for.”
