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Mississippi State’s Pitching Staff Gives Bulldogs Real SEC Tournament Chance

Mississippi State needs nine strikeouts to tie the program’s single-season record as the Bulldogs open SEC Tournament play against Kentucky.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State Pitcher Delainey Everett (#48) during the game between the LSU Tigers and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Nusz Park in Starkville, MS.
Mississippi State Pitcher Delainey Everett (#48) during the game between the LSU Tigers and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Nusz Park in Starkville, MS. | Mississippi State Athletics

Mississippi State heads to Lexington this week with a familiar feeling.

The Bulldogs have spent most of the season fighting uphill in the SEC, and now they open the conference tournament against the host team that’s had an even rougher ride.

No. 18 Mississippi State (37-17, 9-15 SEC) draws Kentucky on Tuesday afternoon in the first round. First pitch is listed for 3 p.m., but like always at the SEC Tournament, it’ll start 35 minutes after the opener wraps.

The Bulldogs earned the No. 10 seed after closing the regular season against Ole Miss, and the record comes with some context.

The Bulldogs were the only team in the conference to play all eight of their SEC series against top‑25 RPI opponents. They still managed eight ranked wins, including three over top‑10 teams, and they were the ones who handed then‑No. 1 Tennessee its first loss of the year. That’s not nothing.

The reason they’ve stayed afloat is the bullpen. Mississippi State’s pitching staff has been one of the most dominant groups in the country, and the numbers back it up.

Peja Goold, now an AUSL draftee, and Alyssa Faircloth, the SEC strikeout leader, headline a group that has either broken or is closing in on several program records. The Bulldogs need nine more strikeouts to tie the single‑season mark, and they’re averaging 9.10 strikeouts per seven innings, which is just shy of the 2020 pace.

They’re also seven strikeouts looking away from tying that record, and their 14 shutouts are tied for the fourth‑most in school history.

In SEC play alone, Mississippi State’s pitchers set a new school record with 179 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .225 average and just 134 hits.

Those are the lowest marks the program has ever posted in league play. Add in 37 wins, matching the highest regular‑season total under Samantha Ricketts, and you can see why this team still feels dangerous even with a double‑digit seed next to its name.

Tournament history isn’t exactly on Mississippi State’s side, but it’s not a dead end either.

The Bulldogs are 15-31 all‑time in the SEC Tournament and 7-16 in their first games. They’ve won at least one game in four of the last seven tournaments, including twice under Ricketts.

Multiple wins have only happened twice, back in the old double‑elimination days of 1998 and 1999. If Mississippi State advances, Arkansas or Alabama would be waiting, and both have been frequent postseason opponents.

The path is what it always is in this league: tough, unforgiving, and full of teams you’ve already seen too many times. But Mississippi State has the pitching to make things interesting, and in a single‑elimination format, that’s usually enough to keep you hanging around.

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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.

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