Well, the Mississippi State softball team (23-11 overall, 4-3 SEC) was bound to see its winning streak come to an end at one point or another. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Mississippi State’s winning streak came to a screeching halt in Knoxville as the Tennessee Lady Vols (24-9, 6-3 SEC) were able to beat the Bulldogs in blowout fashion.
To be frank, the game was painful and the Lady Vols ended up winning in lopsided fashion. Tennessee wound up beating Mississippi State in just five innings as Tennessee run-ruled the Bulldogs.
Tennessee won 9-1.
That’s certainly less than ideal, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. While the Bulldogs were beaten badly, there were still a few bright moments for the Mississippi State softball team. Matalasi Faapito CRUSHED a home run to carve into Tennessee’s lead.
Mississippi State softball: Bulldogs beaten by Tennessee Lady Vols in 5 innings
Of course, that one home run doesn’t do much to get this series turned around. Mississippi State will need more than that to really get wins against Tennessee in the Bulldogs’ next two games.
As Samatha Ricketts said in Mississippi State’s official game recap, the Bulldogs need to “be clean in all three phases.”
“It unraveled there for us in the fourth and fifth,” Ricketts said. “We have to bounce back, clean it up, learn from our mistakes and be ready to compete and play a cleaner game tomorrow.”
While inconsistent hitting and an overall lack of run support for Mississippi State’s trio of pitchers didn’t do the Bulldogs many favors, Tennessee racking up a dozen hits and being able to read seemingly every single pitch the Bulldogs tossed towards Tennessee’s batters is arguably the biggest point of concern. Mississippi State was outhit 12-3 Friday evening. That’s a problem for the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State will return to action Saturday afternoon as the Bulldogs look to even the series at 1-1.
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