No. 24 Mississippi State posts 4-1 opening weekend with two top 25 victories
A new season of softball began this weekend as No. 24 Mississippi State traveled to Clearwater, Fla. To take part in the NFCA Leadoff Classic.
State took on three ranked teams in the five games played and the Bulldogs were a successful 4-1 on the weekend. Victories over No. 13 Texas Tech and No. 19 Nebraska bookended a strong opening weekend.
The final win came on Sunday for State as the Bulldogs took down the Cornhuskers in a 3-0 shutout. Raelin Chaffin moved to 4-0 to start her State career as the LSU transfer went 7.0 strong innings with five scattered hits, no runs, no walks and six strikeouts.
As was the case all weekend, the big inning was the difference for State’s offense. The second inning was the difference in the game as Jessie Blaine started with a double and the Bulldogs would load the bases with two outs. That’s when Sierra Sacco came through with a bases-clearing double that would put the Bulldogs on top 3-0 and that would be enough.
Sacco led the team with a 3-for-3 day and drove in all three RBI. She was the only player to record multiple hits for the Bulldogs (4-1).
The biggest statement of the weekend was the season opener on Friday night against No. 13 Texas Tech. Facing off against All-American Nijaree Canady, Chaffin would win the battle in her first game as a Bulldog as she went into extras and gutted out a 3-1 win.
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Chaffin threw 8.0 innings, gave up just three hits, one unearned run, four walks and struck out six. In a scoreless game through seven frames, the Bulldogs came up big in extras as Kiarra Sells singled home a run and was followed by a sacrifice fly from her sister, Kalani. Sacco put the icing on the cake with her RBI single giving the team a 3-0 advantage.
State’s lone loss on the weekend came against No. 7 Duke in an 8-0 loss in five innings on Friday night. Saturday’s double-header brought the Bulldogs two wins. State knocked off Bethune Cookman 3-2 on a Kiarra Sells walkoff single. The Bulldogs would beat Penn State in the second game of the day, 6-1.
On the weekend, Sacco led the squad with eight hits while Chaffin made a major impression in the circle. The senior transfer was 4-0 with zero earned runs allowed in 22.2 innings. She struck out 20 and walked five.
State comes back home for the week as the Bulldogs host The Snowman Round Robin tournament in honor of former player Alex Wilcox. The Bulldogs will play Southern Illinois on Thursday at 6 p.m., North Texas on Friday at Noon, Bradley at 3 p.m. on Friday and on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. before closing it out on Sunday 2 p.m. against Georgia Tech.
