No. 12 Mississippi State Falls to No. 1 Tennessee in Series Finale

STARKVILLE, Miss. — No. 12 Mississippi State fell 4-1 to No. 1 Tennessee in the series finale Sunday afternoon, despite a solo home run from Gabby Schaeffer and strong pitching efforts.

The Lady Vols (27-1, 5-1 SEC) scored first in the third inning on a wild pitch. Mississippi State responded immediately with Schaeffer’s home run, which tied the game at 1. Tennessee regained the lead in the fourth inning with a homer and added two runs in the seventh on a bases-loaded single.

Bulldogs head coach Samantha Ricketts acknowledged the team’s struggles against elite pitching. “When you see elite pitching staffs like that, you’ve got to do a better job of swinging within your game plan,” she said. “That’s not the offense that we expect from ourselves. The biggest message today is that when we get all three phases working, we can compete with anyone. We competed in all three games because we had great pitching and defense, but finding our bats is the difference in taking the series or not.”

Schaeffer was Mississippi State’s only hit of the game and also drew two walks. Abby Grace Richardson and Morgan Stiles each drew two walks. Leila Ammon started and pitched three innings, striking out four. Peja Goold also threw three innings, and Alyssa Faircloth struck out two in relief.

The Bulldogs will host UAB on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network. Mississippi State’s home crowd set a series attendance record at 4,818 over three days, with 1,292 fans attending Sunday’s game, the third-highest single-game attendance this year.

Ricketts expressed confidence in her team’s resilience. “That’s the question. That’s something for the team to decide how we respond here. I really don’t have any doubts that they will,” she said. “This was a good measuring stick for us to see where we are and where we need to improve. We love the challenge and the support we get from our fans. We want to keep pushing forward and competing at the highest level.”

Gabby Schaeffer emphasized her confidence at the plate. “I kept telling myself, ‘This pitcher is not better than me,'” she said. “She might be No. 1 in the nation, but she’s not beating me. I looked for a certain pitch, saw it, and swung. You don’t have to swing hard when the pitcher throws at least 70 miles per hour. It’s about having confidence.”

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