No. 12 Mississippi State secured a 4-2 win over South Alabama on Sunday, relying on three home runs for all of its scoring. Kiarra Sells led the effort with two home runs, while Nadia Barbary added another.
Barbary started the offense in the third inning with a solo home run, immediately followed by Sells’ solo shot. In the fifth inning, after Barbary was hit by a pitch, Sells delivered her second homer of the game—a two-run blast.
“Ki is just a professional hitter,” head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “She doesn’t get sped up. She’s able to hit all the different pitches that they’re throwing at her and hit them hard. She just comes up clutch time and time again with some big RBIs and big swings for us when we need them.”
Mississippi State (24-2) trailed early as South Alabama (16-10) scored one run in each of the first two innings. Peja Goold started for Mississippi State, pitching four innings and recording four strikeouts before Leila Ammon took over for one inning. Alyssa Faircloth closed out the game with two innings to earn her third save of the season.
Coach Ricketts commented on using multiple pitchers during the game: “Pitching depth, it’s important. Especially nowadays, and moving forward into a conference play, we’re going to need them all. They’re just trusting one another to do their job and the role that they’re given that day. And I think we do have a lot of depth. They all provide different looks, and it’s able to keep opposing teams off balance. We can mix and match them as we need them to get us out of some jams, and to close out that game. I just loved the composure and the poise of all of them when they came in for their innings.”
Ricketts also spoke about Tatum Silva’s performance: “Tatum’s a gamer. She stays ready. She’s ready for opportunity. She finds ways to get on base. She’s scrappy, and she just plays hard. She competes hard, and I just love her attitude and her energy and her fire when she gets out there.”
Mississippi State has relied heavily on home runs this season; more than 40 percent of its total runs have come from homers.
Barbary now has seven home runs this year—second most on the team—and has recorded hits in four consecutive games while reaching base safely in seven straight contests.
Morgan Bernardini extended her hitting streak to four games after going 2-for-2 with a walk against South Alabama.
Sells leads Mississippi State with ten home runs this season; she has collected extra-base hits in twelve of her last fourteen games.
Silva contributed by walking twice and stealing a base during Sunday’s matchup.
The Bulldogs will next host Southeast Missouri for a doubleheader on Tuesday before beginning SEC play against No. 1 Tennessee later in the week.
