STARKVILLE — While it is too early to consider a Southeastern Conference series as “must win,” the Mississippi State softball team realizes now is the time to try to reverse some negative momentum.
Nationally ranked a week ago, MSU (20-13, 1-5 SEC) will try to break a five-game losing streak when Ole Miss (26-9, 2-4) comes to Nusz Park for the first time.
The three-game conference series will start at 6 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network +) and resume with nationally-televised games at 6 p.m. Sunday (ESPNU) and 6 p.m. Monday (SEC Network).
“We really need to start feeling good again,” MSU coach Vann Stuedeman said. “Sometimes you can lose your confidence. Every weekend in our conference is a grind, and you can’t let one weekend impact the next.
“We just need to have a little success and feel good again.”
Ole Miss and MSU have strong NCAA tournament resumes. In the latest Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), the Rebels were at No. 32 and the Bulldogs were at No. 33. While those numbers are good, winning games such as the three this weekend are imperative to keep those numbers high.
“It’s a big series because both teams have a lot to play for,” Ole Miss coach Mike Smith said. “It goes well past the rivalry. Each team had a good enough first half of the season that you know things are on the line.”
While both squads will be hard-pressed to make a run at the upper division of the conference standings, each can certainly feel a regional berth well within their grasps. Stuedeman has guided the Bulldogs to four straight regionals, while Smith is trying to carry his team to its first postseason berth in his second season as coach.
“The biggest thing is not getting caught up in the opponent,” MSU junior catcher Katie Anne Bailey said. “It’s a conference game, so it’s a big game. It’s a conference game at home, so it’s an even bigger game. We are just going to concentrate on the process though. We will try to put some hits together.
“If we could have a little success I think they would make everybody feel a little better.”
The last two games at Nusz Park were head-scratching non-conference losses for the Bulldogs. MSU had only five hits in a 1-0 loss to Central Arkansas last Wednesday. Earlier this week, MSU had six hits in a 3-2 loss to Alabama-Birmingham. The losing streak includes a three-game sweep at No. 17 Tennessee. The Bulldogs had chances in a pair of those defeats.
For Stuedeman, the struggles are perplexing considering MSU started conference play strong by taking one of three games from No. 3 Auburn. MSU pitching held what was then the league’s best hitting team to eight runs in the series.
“The team has shown it is capable,” Stuedeman said. “Hopefully, we will have some big crowds and we can start strong. A fast start could really carry over for the rest of the weekend.”
MSU enters the series last in the league in hitting with a .269 average — a 43-point drop from last season. Eleven of 13 league teams have scored 180 or more runs, while MSU has scored 144 times. MSU is fourth in the league with a 1.86 ERA.
Ole Miss is hitting .316 and has a team ERA of 2.59. The Rebels have turned heads with one conference win against No. 15 Missouri and No. 14 Kentucky.
“Those were the kinds of wins we would have been hard pressed to have a gotten a year ago,” Smith said.
Ole Miss won this series a year ago — taking the final two of three at home in March. It turned out to have little to no bearing on how each team finished the season.
This year’s series likely will have a bigger impact. MSU will travel next weekend to No. 6 Alabama, while Ole Miss will play host to No. 1 Florida.
“We just needs wins, and we need them now,” Bailey said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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