State Drops Series Opener At No. 15 LSU

Friday, April 21

Baton Rouge, La.

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

24-20, 3-12

#15 LSU

35-11, 8-8

Mississippi State

LSU

State Drops Series Opener At No. 15 LSU

April 21, 2023 | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

By: Brian Ogden, Associate Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State softball dropped the opening game of its series at No. 15 LSU on Friday night, 7-1. The Bulldogs had runners on base in six innings, but did not score until the seventh.

Chloe Malau'ulu drove in State's only run with a one-out triple. It was her second hit of the night following a double on the game's first pitch. She now has 13 multi-hit games this season and 49 in her career. Malau'ulu also shone defensively, recording five putouts and turning a double play for her 17th career outfield assist.

"It was good to see her get going again, and she's had some tough luck and hard-hit balls that weren't dropping the last few games," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We're going to need her down the stretch, so it's good to see her get rolling."

Joining Malau'ulu in the outfield highlights was Brylie St. Clair who ran down a deep fly ball in the fifth while the score was 4-0. In addition to her three putouts, St. Clair beat out her 12th bunt single of the year. Kiersten Landers and Paige Cook also reached base twice on a pair of walks and hit-by-pitches.

The Bulldogs (24-20, 3-12 SEC) played a clean defensive game for the third straight contest, and they have a double play in two of those games.

Quotables

Samantha Ricketts on the team's defense…
"We've got to make plays behind our pitching, especially when we've put a lot of runners on base. We need a better start. The double play helped get us out of an inning, but overall it's too many free passes. It's too many runners on base, and we've got to be able to come up with a big hit."

Quick Hitters

Paige Cook – Walked twice and has reached base in three straight games.

Kiersten Landers – Was hit by a pitch twice.

Chloe Malau'ulu – Doubled to right on the game's first pitch … later added an RBI triple … posted her team-leading 13th multi-hit game and the 49th of her career … turned a double play, picking up her 17th career outfield assist in the process … now tied with Brittany Gates (2009-12) for second in MSU history and six shy of Iyhia McMichael's (2001-04) school record (23).

Jackie McKenna – Extended her hitting streak to a season-best four games.

Brylie St. Clair – Collected her 12th bunt single of the season and her 17th infield hit … now 12-for-15 (.800) when bunting.

Scoring Recap

Bottom 1
Danieca Coffey singled over the leaping second baseman. Ciara Briggs then slapped a single that bounced over the third baseman. Taylor Pleasants singled on a hard shot of the first baseman's glove to load the bases. Georgia Clark then lined a ball into center field to score Coffey and Briggs. Clark reached third. Ali Newland was hit by a pitch, loading the bases once more. Karli Petty hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Clark.
Mississippi State 0, No. 15 LSU 3

Bottom 2
Savannah Stewart led off with a single up the middle before Coffey singled to shortstop. With one out, Pleasants doubled to center field to score Stewart.
Mississippi State 0, No. 15 LSU 4

Bottom 6
Stewart beat out a bunt single, and Coffey bunted her over to second. Stewart advanced to third on a groundout to shortstop. Pleasants beat out a single to shortstop while Stewart scored. Clark then walked, and both runners were replaced by pinch runners. A wild pitch moved them to second and third before Newland doubled to center, scoring both.
Mississippi State 0, No. 15 LSU 7

Top 7
Brylie St. Clair beat out a bunt single. She scored on Chloe Malau'ulu's triple down the right field line.
Mississippi State 1, No. 15 LSU 7

On Deck

MSU and LSU continue the series on All for Alex Day Saturday. The game between the two teams that started the SEC-wide initiative will be played at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

Follow the Bulldogs

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