Cowbell Corner

Mississippi State Suffers Shutout Loss to Georgia

Bulldogs still have chance at No. 5 seed in upcoming SEC tournament

Taylor Hodges

Mississippi State Softball Pitcher Josey Marron
Mississippi State Softball Pitcher Josey Marron / Obtained from Mississippi State Softball's X/Twitter

STARKVILLE – No. 12 Georgia returned the favor of being shutout Friday night against No. 19 Mississippi with a shutout win of its own Saturday afternoon. 

Georgia (38-14, 12-11 SEC) opened the game with three runs in the first inning and one more in each of the second and fourth innings while allowing MSU just three hits and XXX total baserunners.

"It just felt too much like we were taking defensive swings and letting them dictate our at-bats,” MSU coach Samantha Ricketts said after Saturday’s game. “I think we are too good of an offense for that, but credit to Georgia's pitchers. They did a good job of pitching to their defense and mixing speeds well, and they got ahead early.”

Sierra Sacco, Paige Cook and Ella Wesolowski were the only MSU players to record a hit Saturday. Josey Marron (9-9) took the loss in the game, allowing all five runs on nine hits and a walk. She also struck out three batters in three innings of work. Lexi Sosa had 2.1 innings pitched without allowing any baserunners and Matalasi Faapito closed out the game allowing just one walk in five batters faced.

While there is no such thing as a good loss, Saturday’s loss won’t hurt MSU too much in its hunt for a higher seed in next week’s SEC tournament. MSU has already ensured it will be at least the No. 8 seed, but there’s still a chance to claim the No. 5 seed (Georgia has that same opportunity).

The winner of Sunday’s regular season finale will have a chance at the No. 5 seed. That game will be nationally televised on SEC Network starting at 11 a.m.

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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. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.