Mississippi State Softball Opens SEC Tournament Tuesday in Lexington
LEXINGTON, Ky. — No. 18 Mississippi State will open the 2026 SEC Softball Tournament against host Kentucky on Tuesday at John Cropp Stadium. The game is scheduled to start around 3 p.m. Eastern time, approximately 35 minutes after the conclusion of the opening game of the day, according to tournament officials.
The Bulldogs, with a 37-17 record and a 9-15 mark in conference play, earned the No. 10 seed after finishing their regular season with a series victory over in-state rival Ole Miss. Mississippi State was the only SEC team to face all eight top-25 RPI teams during the season, securing eight wins against ranked opponents, including three over top-10 teams. Notably, the Bulldogs handed then-No. 1 Tennessee its first loss of the year.
State’s pitching staff has been a key to their success, led by Alyssa Faircloth, who is the SEC leader in strikeouts. Peja Goold, a draftee of AUSL, and other relievers have contributed to a staff that is approaching several school records. The team needs nine more strikeouts to tie the program’s single-season record and just seven to break it. The Bulldogs also have 14 shutouts this season, tied for fourth-most in school history.
In SEC competition, Mississippi State set a record with 179 strikeouts, averaging 7.83 per seven innings. The team’s opponents have batted just .225 against them, the lowest in SEC play this season. The Bulldogs’ total of 37 wins ties their highest in the program under head coach Samantha Ricketts and marks their first 40-win season since 2008 if they can reach that milestone.
Kentucky, hosting the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2013, enters with a three-game losing streak after falling to Texas in the most recent weekend. The Wildcats and Bulldogs last met in the postseason in 2014, going to extra innings. The teams did not face each other this season, but MSU took the series in 2025 with 25 runs scored over the weekend.
The tournament continues with potential matchups against Arkansas and Alabama, with the semifinals scheduled for Friday and the championship game on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. The winner of Tuesday’s game will face Arkansas on Wednesday. The NCAA Selection Show is set for Sunday at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Mississippi State has a postseason history with a 15-31 record overall. They have won at least one SEC Tournament game twice under Ricketts and advanced beyond the first round in four of the last seven tournaments. The Bulldogs’ only previous meeting with Kentucky in the tournament was an extra-inning loss in 2014.
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