Mississippi State scored four runs in the first inning in both games of Sunday’s doubleheader, twice putting four-time defending national champion Oklahoma in an early hole on the Sooners’ own home field. But both times, the No. 16 Bulldogs let the lead slip away as the No. 2 Sooners became the first team to sweep MSU in a three-game series since 2023.
More concerning was a shoulder injury to Bulldogs ace Raelin Chaffin, who was clutching her right shoulder in pain after throwing to first base in the sixth inning of Sunday’s first game. The LSU transfer has carried MSU’s pitching staff all year and is second in the Southeastern Conference in innings pitched, just one-third of an inning behind Auburn’s SJ Guerin.
Chaffin struggled in the first two innings of Friday’s game, played at Devon Park in Oklahoma City (the site of the Women’s College World Series). A dropped third strike helped lead to two Sooners runs in the first, and Hannah Coor doubled her team’s lead with a two-run home run in the second. That was all the scoring in a 4-0 Bulldogs loss, as Oklahoma’s Sam Landry held MSU to three hits in a complete-game shutout.
“She kept us off balance from the first inning,” Bulldogs head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “A lot more off-speed pitches than we expected. She had everything working for her. She’s a really tough matchup for a lot of teams because she can throw to all quadrants.”
Saturday’s game was pre-emptively moved to Sunday due to the weather forecast, and MSU (33-14, 9-9 SEC) was clearly ready to hit by the time the doubleheader started. Sierra Sacco launched the first pitch of the game to the back of the split-level bleachers in right field at Love’s Field in Norman. The Bulldogs went on to collect five hits in the first inning, with Kylee Edwards, Morgan Bernardini and Jessie Blaine each driving in a run.
The Sooners (39-5, 13-5) wasted no time answering back, though, as Kasidi Pickering homered on the first pitch she saw from Delainey Everett. Oklahoma scored two more runs in the bottom of the first, then tied the game in the third.
Nadia Barbary’s RBI double in the fourth put the Bulldogs back in front, but Josey Marron ran into trouble in the fifth, allowing the Sooners to take a 6-5 lead — which would end up being the final score — on a bases-loaded walk.
The scary moment came the following inning, when Chaffin fielded a dribbler in front of the pitcher’s circle and made an accurate throw to first for the out. But she immediately grabbed her shoulder and dropped to a squat, and had to leave the game as Everett re-entered to pitch.
Still, MSU shook off both that and the loss and came out hot again in the nightcap. Bernardini doubled in the game’s first two runs, and Blaine followed with a two-run homer, her third of the season.
“We did a much better job of staying on the attack and being aggressive and not missing our pitch,” Ricketts said. “It was a little bit more of what we expect from our offense to start both games.”
Once again, though, Oklahoma struck right back in its half of the first, this time on a two-run blast by Gabbie Garcia off Lexi Sosa. Sacco’s second homer of the day and 10th of the year put the Bulldogs up three in the second, but the Sooners answered with two more long balls of their own to tie the game.
Marron walked two batters in the fifth before handing the ball to Everett, who gave up a tiebreaking three-run homer to Isabela Emerling. Ella Wesolowski got a run back with a solo shot in the sixth, but again the Sooners countered with Nelly McEnroe-Marinas hitting her second home run of the game. Oklahoma completed the sweep with a 9-6 victory.
MSU’s road trip continues with a series at Kentucky starting Friday.
“We expect ourselves to play and compete with anyone, and we’re disappointed because we didn’t play our best,” Ricketts said. “You can’t give anyone extra outs, either defensively or with (free passes). We just didn’t play clean for seven innings, which we needed to do.”
Mississippi State softball MSU
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