STARKVILLE — When Mississippi State’s Katie Anne Bailey stepped into the batter’s box in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday, she only wanted one thing.
What she got instead was a whole lot better.
“With nobody on, you are thinking getting a base hit,” said Bailey. “I am not a home run hitter because I normally don’t get lift with my balls. So really I am thinking get on and get something started to help the team.”
Instead, Bailey started and ended something for her team at the same time.
The sophomore catcher’s first home run of the season lifted MSU to an 8-7 win over then-No. 8 Georgia in the final game of a Southeastern Conference series Sunday at the MSU Softball Field.
Down 4-0, MSU rallied with two runs in the seventh and Bailey’s game-winner to avoid a three-game sweep and to also notch the team’s second win of the season against a ranked opponent.
“It says so much to be down 4-0 and not pack the bags,” Bailey said. “A lot of teams would have packed up and gone home, especially young teams. However, we are not like most teams. After the two losses to start the weekend, we really needed something good to happen. All of a sudden we got some things going and the confidence was back at a really high level.”
MSU (18-5, 1-2 SEC) will carry that confidence into its second straight weekend series against a ranked opponent. No. 19 Texas A&M (20-5, 2-1 SEC) comes to Starkville for a three-game SEC series this weekend, beginning today at 5:30 p.m.
“After being rained out twice this week, are really anxious to play again,” Bailey said. “We are playing at home and we know our fans will come out and support us. Texas A&M is another really good opponent. We approach each series like it’s a regional weekend. We are going to do our best to win two or three games.”
MSU had a couple of threats early but failed to score off Georgia ace Chelsea Wilkinson in a 6-1 defeat Friday night. However, the Bulldogs took notes and left the stadium with confidence.
“We knew we were really close,” Bailey said. “We had some good at-bats and left some runners on base. I think we really had confidence going into Sunday, because we knew we would face her again.”
In the final game of the series, MSU touched Wilkinson for 12 hits and eight runs. The Bulldogs have now collected 10 or more hits in nine games this season.
“Really, it’s everybody on the team,” Bailey said. “Once we got a couple of hits to fall, everybody started believing. ”
Follow Dispatch Sports Writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.