Bulldog softball holds down Huskies to start Regional play with 6-3 win
A big bottom of the first inning held up for Mississippi State in Friday’s Opening Round of the NCAA softball tournament.
After Raelin Chaffin surrendered a solo home run in the top of the first, the Bulldog offense had her back. State scored four runs in the inning to get a 4-1 lead and the Bulldogs didn’t look back in a 6-3 victory.
In that bottom of the first, back-to-back doubles from Jessie Blaine and Kylee Edwards would get the Bulldogs started. Ella Wesolowski added a fourth run in the frame with her RBI single to make it 4-1.
Washington would add two runs in the second before Chaffin began to settle into the game. Chaffin had a complete game with six hits, three runs and two walks while striking out nine batters. In her final five innings, Chaffin surrendered just two hits and no runs. All three of the runs she gave up in the contest were via the home run.
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For State, some insurance came while Chaffin settled into her role. Nadia Barbary drove a two-run home run over the wall in left and extended the lead to 6-3. That lead would stand as Chaffin closed things out the rest of the way.
MSU had nine hits in the win and worked around two errors on the defensive end. Sierra Sacco was 2-for-4 with Morgan Stiles delivering a 2-for-3 night. Edwards and Barbary had the big hits driving in two runs each.
The victory is a great start to a challenging regional. MSU (38-17) now has a chance to advance to a Regional final by taking on the host team Texas Tech on Saturday at 1 p.m.
