GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Mississippi State softball team lost to No. 1 Florida 3-1 Sunday in the final game of a three-game Southeastern Conference series.
A multiple-hit game from freshman Sarai Niu and a pitching gem from junior Alexis Silkwood wasn’t enough to lift MSU (24-23, 3-15 SEC) past Florida (45-3, 15-3).
“I was proud yesterday and I’m even prouder today,” MSU coach Vann Stuedeman said. “The fight in these Bulldogs is for real!”
Neither team had a hit in the first four innings, highlighted by a diving catch from senior shortstop Kayla Winkfield in the bottom of the fourth.
Niu snapped the tie with a solo homer to center field that gave MSU a 1-0 lead in the fifth.
Florida tied the game in the sixth when it put two runners in scoring position and no outs. A sacrifice fly to left advanced the runners and tied the game.
Winkfield led off the 10th with a walk on a full count, but she was called out on a controversial runner left early call that kept MSU off the board. Florida answered with a two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th to claim the victory.
Silkwood (4-8) suffered the loss, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits in 8 1/3 innings. She struck out five and walked two.
MSU will play host to South Alabama at 6:04 p.m. Tuesday (SEC Network+) at Nusz Park.
n Ole Miss 6, Arkansas 5: At Oxford, the Rebels rallied for five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn a series sweep of the Razorbacks at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
Ole Miss (34-15, 9-9) entered the seventh inning trailing 5-1, but it batted around and rallied for five runs in the frame to complete a three-game sweep of Arkansas (17-32, 1-17).
Kylan Becker led off the seventh with a walk and Sarah Van Schaik singled. After Bry Castro pinch ran for Van Schaik, Grayce Majam reached safely after a roller slipped under the glove of the shortstop that scored Paige McKinney.
Haley Culley then pinch ran for Majam before Hailey Lunderman grounded out to the pitcher to push runners to second and third. Miranda Strother singled to left to score Culley. Ashton Lampton then reached on a throwing error by the shortstop. Courtney Syrett was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. Dakota Matiko walked to tie the game at 5. Becker drew a full-count walk to secure the sweep.
The walk-off win for the Rebels is their eighth of the season, and the second in regulation seven innings. Ole Miss had six hits, but it worked nine walks off Grace Moll.
Lunderman, Strother, Lampton, Matiko, Van Schaik, and Majam tallied the hits for Ole Miss, while Becker had a career-high three walks. Matiko had a team-best two RBI, as Strother and Becker had one.
After Ole Miss starter Kayla Landwehrmier went 6 2/3 innings and allowed five runs on seven hits. Elisha Jahnke picked up her ninth win in just a third of an inning.
The series sweep is Ole Miss’ first of the season.
Ole Miss will play host to Alabama-Birmingham at 6 p.m. Wednesday (SEC Network).
n Alabama 3, Kentucky 0: At Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the Crimson Tide used home runs by Leona Lafaele and Reagan Dykes and a strong pitching performance by Sydney Littlejohn to shut out the Wildcats on Sunday at Rhoads Stadium.
Lafaele and Dykes are tied for the team lead with 11 home runs. Lafaele has hit seven in the last eight games to help Alabama improve to 41-9 and 12-6. Kentucky slipped to 39-11 and 14-7.
“It’s good to see Reagan Dykes and Leona Lafaele hit the way they have this season,” Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said. “I think Reagan is feeding off of Leona for sure, especially since Leona goes before her in the batting order.”
Littlejohn (19-4) pitched her seventh shutout of the year. She allowed only four hits. Kentucky’s Kelsey Nunley (18-5) took the loss.
“On Sunday in the SEC, usually everyone is going to pitch each girl twice,” Murphy said. “After that, it comes down to who makes the quicker adjustments — the hitter or the pitcher? I think Sydney did a lot better today than on Friday. Any time the ball cuts off the bat, you know that she’s going to have a good day because the ball is spinning that much. I noticed that the umpire grabbed the ball when the Kentucky batters fouled it off to look and see if it was cut because the spin was so great. That’s a really good sign to us that the ball is moving well.”
Haylie McCleney set the tone immediately leading off the bottom of the first, poking a single down the left-field line. Later with two outs in the inning, Dykes blasted a two-run home run to left field to give Alabama a 2-0 lead.
In the third, Lafaele blasted a home run off the scoreboard. Littlejohn retired 12 of the 13 batters faced after the third.
Junior Colleges
n No. 7 Itawamba Community College 9, Southwest Mississippi 0, five innings: At Fulton, the Lady Indians used a home run by former New Hope High School standout Kaitlin Bradley and two hits from former East Webster High standout Mamie Hollenhead to win in five innings to advance to the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College tournament.
Freshman Carleigh Mills tossed a one-hit shutout to help ICC (39-8) join No. 5 Jones County Junior College (39-6), No. 3 Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. (43-3), and East Central C.C. (42-7), which was ranked fifth in the nation but dropped from this week’s poll due to NJCAA Stat-Entry Policy — in the MACJC State tournament, which will begin Friday and run through Sunday. The matchups haven’t been set for the double-elimination, but the games Friday will be at 4 and 6 p.m. The top three teams from the tournament will travel to No. 1 LSU-Eunice for the NJCAA Region 23 tournament the following week.
Bradley also had an RBI single to give ICC an 8-0 lead in the fourth inning. She added her fifth home run to make it 9-0 entering the bottom of the fifth.
Mills (15-2) struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter.
Former Hamilton High standout Addie Thompson also had two hits to help ICC finish 22-0 at home.
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