Skip to main content
Cowbell Corner

Mississippi State Heads to No. 5 Florida for Style Clash Between Pitching and Power

Mississippi State travels to No. 5 Florida for a clash of styles. Can the Bulldogs’ pitching slow one of college softball’s top offenses?
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State Pitcher Alyssa Faircloth (#4) during the game between the South Alabama Jaguars and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Jaguar Field in Mobile, AL.
Mississippi State Pitcher Alyssa Faircloth (#4) during the game between the South Alabama Jaguars and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Jaguar Field in Mobile, AL. | Mississippi State Athletics

Mississippi State heads into one of its toughest road trips of the season this weekend with a visit to No. 5 Florida.

It’s a familiar matchup in name, but not in experience. Only one Bulldog has ever played a college game in Gainesville, and that was Alyssa Faircloth during her Troy days.

For everyone else, Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium will be brand new.

The series sets up as a clash of strengths. Mississippi State brings one of the best pitching staffs in the country. Florida brings one of the most dangerous lineups in the country.

Something has to give, and the numbers suggest the Bulldogs might be able to drag the Gators into the kind of game they prefer.

SEC games involving Mississippi State have averaged only 5.11 total runs, the lowest mark in the league. When runs do show up, they tend to come late. Nearly two-thirds of the scoring in Mississippi State’s conference games has happened in the fifth inning or later.

Peja Goold is a big reason for that. She was named National Pitcher of the Week after a stretch that included her first career no-hitter, a shutout of No. 23 South Carolina and a save to clinch that series.

She allowed one run across 19 innings and struck out 27. She also strung together more than ten straight hitless innings and more than seventeen straight scoreless innings.

Faircloth has been just as important. She ranks third nationally in strikeouts and is pushing toward a 200-strikeout season, something only five Bulldogs have ever done.

Mississippi State’s entire staff has been overwhelming. Opponents are hitting under .175 against the top three arms, and the Bulldogs lead the nation in total strikeouts, strikeouts looking and strikeout-to-walk ratio. They have 300 more strikeouts than walks, which is a wild gap no matter how you slice it.

The offense has found its moments too.

Kiarra Sells has settled into the leadoff spot and keeps finding ways on base. She has reached in 13 of her last 20 plate appearances and has been reliable at the start of innings all year.

Paige Ernstes snapped a long drought with a solo homer on Monday night.

 Des Rivera continues to rack up sacrifice flies and has tied the single-season school record. Mississippi State also continues to protect the plate better than most. The Bulldogs have thrown out 11 runners at home, including several in tight spots.

Florida will test all of that.

The Gators hit .377 as a team and average nearly nine runs per game. They lead the nation in doubles and sit near the top in almost every major offensive category.

Taylor Shumaker is one of the best hitters in the SEC and piles up hits at a national level.

The one area where Florida doesn’t shine is speed. The Gators rank near the bottom of the league in triples and stolen bases. Mississippi State has more players with high-end speed metrics, which could matter in a tight game.

Mississippi State is built around pitching and defense. Florida is built around power and pressure.

It’s a true contrast in styles, and the early innings might tell the story.

If Mississippi State can keep things quiet long enough for its offense to settle in, the Bulldogs have a chance to make this a grind.

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