Skip to main content
Cowbell Corner

Mississippi State Finally Lands on Right Side of Final-At-Bat Drama

Mississippi State rallied from a two-run deficit in the seventh inning to walk off Kentucky 4-3 and stay alive in the 2026 SEC Softball Tournament.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State's Taylor Troutman celebrates her game-winning, infield single to keep the Bulldogs alive in the 2026 SEC Softball Tournament.
Mississippi State's Taylor Troutman celebrates her game-winning, infield single to keep the Bulldogs alive in the 2026 SEC Softball Tournament. | Mississippi State Athletics

Mississippi State finally got to walk off the field smiling on Tuesday, which probably felt like a small miracle after the last week.

When you lose back‑to‑back games on walkoffs, you start to wonder if the sport is trying to teach you a lesson. Turns out the lesson was just to hang around long enough for someone else to feel that pain.

This time it was Kentucky in the 2026 SEC Softball Tournament. And this time it was Mississippi State doing the celebrating after a 4-3 comeback win that kept the Bulldogs alive in Lexington.

It wasn’t clean, it wasn’t quick, and it definitely wasn’t stress free, but it was the kind of seventh inning that makes tournament softball worth the trouble.

Mississippi State trailed by two with three outs left and hadn’t done much since the third inning. Then Kiarra Sells punched a leadoff single through the left side, Morgan Bernardini reached on an error, and suddenly the whole thing flipped.

"Once [Kiarra Sells] got on to start the inning, we knew that we were going to find a way to at least tie that game up,” Mississippi State coach Samantha Ricketts said. “The big swing by Morgan Stiles and then another couple big at-bats up and down the lineup, capped off by Taylor, finding a way to get it done with two strikes. But proud of the team, I loved the fight. This time of year, any way you can, you'll take it."

Kinley Keller loaded the bases. Morgan Stiles tied the game. And with two outs, Taylor Troutman hit a sharp grounder that turned into a footrace she wasn’t losing.

Stiles scored, Troutman beat the first baseman to the bag, and Mississippi State finally got to be on the right side of a walkoff moment.

It was the ninth comeback win of the season and the fourth against an SEC opponent. It also gave Troutman her second walkoff of the year, which is becoming a pretty solid niche for her.

Stiles either scored or drove in all four runs, Keller doubled in her first postseason at‑bat, and Alyssa Faircloth tied the single‑season program record for strikeouts looking while picking up her 13th win.

And if you’re keeping track, yes, this team has now played three straight games decided in the final at‑bat. They lost the first two. They weren’t interested in a third.

Mississippi State moves on to face No. 9 Arkansas on Wednesday afternoon. After the last few days, it’s fair to assume the Bulldogs will keep things interesting.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

Home/All Things State