STARKVILLE — After a disappointing season, a veteran coach always looks for a sign the next season will be
different.
Mississippi State softball coach Vann Stuedeman received that sign last Friday when her team opened Southeastern Conference play with a 5-2 victory against then-No. 6 Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.
While the Bulldogs only won one game in their season-opening SEC series, they had a chance to win all three games.
MSU (21-5, 1-2 SEC) will try to take more steps in the right direction when No. 11 Alabama (26-2, 3-0) comes to Nusz Park for a three-game conference series. The opener is at 6 p.m. today.
“It was a productive weekend,” Stuedeman said. “We did a lot of things well. Basically, (we’re) one big hit in either of the last two games away from winning the series. Timely hitting has a been a struggle. We will keep working on that. This weekend, we will have to take advantage of our chances.”
The Bulldogs had 20 hits in the series, but it stranded 33 runners. The Bulldogs had a season-best 19 hits in a series against Missouri and 17 hits against LSU last season. The team is hitting .300.
Continued strong offensive production will be a challenge against junior right-hander Alexis Osorio, who is 14-1 with a 0.69 earned run average and five shutouts. Osorio threw two one-hit shutouts in a sweep of Arkansas last weekend in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
“They are pitching it well,” Stuedeman said. “The thing is to work the process and stay in the moment. We just have to be aggressive and make the most of our chances.”
The biggest storyline of MSU’s series against Texas A&M might have been sophomore right-hander Regan Green getting the win Friday night. Green (4-0) threw six strong innings. Staff ace Alexis Silkwood earned the save before starting Saturday in a 5-1 loss.
“Regan really took a step up,” Stuedeman said. “You have seen her getting better and better throughout the season. That was a huge road win against a really good offensive team. It will help her confidence.”
MSU could follow the same plan this weekend with Green and Silkwood (9-1, 0.78 ERA). Silkwood threw 4 1/3 innings in Wednesday night in a 3-1 win at Central Arkansas.
The MSU team ERA is 1.07, which is second in the league, and sixth nationally. Alabama is fifth in the league at 1.19.
“Alabama has been hitting the ball well lately, so this will be a huge challenge for our pitching staff,” Stuedeman said. “You saw a lot of growth and maturity in the Texas A&M series. That has to carry over.”
With the NCAA set to release this season’s initial Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) figures Tuesday, it is the time of the year to start counting wins. The Bulldogs need five wins to match last season’s win total and eight to clinch a winning regular season.
After the series against Alabama, MSU will play four of its final eight non-conference games. That stretch includes a game at No. 22 Ole Miss and three games in the College Preview Series in Norman and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. MSU will face Louisiana Tech, Alabama-Birmingham, and No. 9 Oklahoma in that event.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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