Oklahoma Familiar With Samantha Ricketts' 'Sneaky Tough' Mississippi State Program

NORMAN — Though Mississippi State was one of the few opponents Oklahoma avoided in SEC play, the programs are very familiar with each other.

The Bulldogs are led by former Sooner great Samantha Ricketts, who played for Patty Gasso from 2006-2009 before serving as a graduate assistant under the legendary OU coach for three seasons.

Since Ricketts took over as Mississippi State’s head coach ahead of the 2020 season, the Bulldogs have battled the Sooners eight times.

The Sooners are 8-0 in those contests, but the fight exhibited by Ricketts’ teams left a lasting impression.

“They are the type to never give up,” former OU star Alyssa Brito said on The Road to OKC on 107.7 FM The Franchise.

“… It didn’t matter if we were up by seven in the first inning. They were like, hey, we’re still going to swing the bat hard and we’re going to be rowdy and we’re going to hit the ball hard and challenge your defense.”

Brito played Mississippi State in each of her three seasons with the Sooners.

Oklahoma won the 2022 contest 9-0 in five innings in Irvine, CA, before winning both matcups in Starkville in 2023, 7-0 and 9-3. OU also beat Mississippi State 9-3 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in 2024, but the energy from the opposing dugout was consistent, Brito said.

“Sam Ricketts is always the type, too, where I’m going to put up a bunt sign, I’m going to have my lefties slap in front of you and put some pressure on you,” Brito said. “And on the pitching side of things, too, I think they’ve always had a really great ace. Someone who is confident, someone who is great with offspeed pitches and can go to different planes. That’s what we’ve seen in years past.”

Mississippi State has a pair of new pitchers that Oklahoma will have to contend with this weekend.

Peja Goold transferred to Starkville from Chattanooga, and she enters the weekend with a 2.12 ERA, which is tied with Oklahoma State’s Ruby Meylan for 32nd in the country.

Goold pairs with Troy transfer Alyssa Faircloth, who has a 2.28 ERA and is fresh off throwing a no-hitter against Oregon in the Eugene Regional on Saturday.

Neither Goold nor Faircloth was with the Bulldogs when they met the Sooners in conference play last year, but OU third baseman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas remembers the three-game series well.

“They’re sneaky tough,” McEnroe-Marinas said in an appearance on the Franchise Morning Show on Monday.

Oklahoma beat the Bulldogs 4-0 on April 18 at Devon Park last year before notching a 6-5 win and a 9-6 win on April 20.

Key Bulldog contributors Kiarra Sells, Nadia Barbury and Morgan Stiles were all involved in last year’s series, so while the pitching staff has a handful of new faces, the Sooners have experience taking on a portion of this year’s Mississippi State lineup.

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“They’ll put up a fight no matter who they are playing, so I just know from our perspective we cannot let off the gas,” McEnroe-Marinas said.

The Sooners and the Bulldogs will meet at 12 p.m. on Friday in the Norman Super Regional opener, and Friday’s victor will have a chance to punch their ticket to the 2026 Women’s College World Series on Saturday at 12 p.m.

If a winner-take-all Game 3 is necessary, it will be played on Sunday at Love’s Field.

“We need to be going at them 100 percent from the first inning to the last inning because they are a really, really tough and sneaky offense," McEnroe-Marinas said.

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