STARKVILLE — Monday was a pretty good day for Mississippi State senior pitcher Alexis Silkwood.
Silkwood pitched a complete game in a 4-3 victory against No. 24 Arkansas to help MSU win a three-game Southeastern Conference series at Nusz Park.
During the game, the Akron Racers used the 24th overall pick to select Silkwood in the fifth round of the National Pro Fastpitch draft. Silkwood is the 13th MSU player to earn a professional invitation.
“I feel blessed,” Silkwood said. “I am thankful for everything and everyone here that has helped me along the way. It was definitely a long road, but we’re not done. It’s just exciting to go out there with my sisters and compete.”
MSU’s Kayla Winkfield was taken in last spring’s draft. Now a student assistant with the Bulldogs, Winkfield and current MSU graduate assistant Rachel Fox play for the NPF’s Scrap Yard Dogs in Conroe, Texas.
Silkwood is MSU’s career leader in wins (58), strikeouts (542), innings (642 2/3), complete games (50), and appearances (139).
Postseason ready
MSU took a major step toward returning to an NCAA tournament regional with the victory.
MSU was No. 32 nationally in the latest Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) Monday morning. Every MSU team ranked No. 37 or higher has made postseason. The Bulldogs have played in a regional in four of Vann Stuedeman’s first five seasons as coach.
All 13 SEC teams were in the top 32, with MSU being the last league team listed. The league has received 11 NCAA regional berths on three occasions. Multiple softball web sites have projected the league to get all 13 members in this season.
The SEC RPI rankings included Florida (one), Auburn (four), Texas A&M (five), Tennessee (10), LSU (13), Alabama (14), Kentucky (17), South Carolina (24), Arkansas (26), Ole Miss (27), Georgia (28), Missouri (31) and Mississippi State (32).
MSU’s final two conference series are at No. 7 Auburn and against No. 20 Kentucky in Starkville
The Bulldogs have seven wins against ranked opponents. MSU is the only SEC team that hasn’t been ranked by either of the two national polls.
Stacking series wins
MSU won its third-straight conference series Monday night. The latest victory comes on the heels of series victories against South Carolina and Georgia. The Bulldogs lost a late lead in the middle game of each of the last two series to miss a chance for a sweep.
“Being able to win back-to-back series in this league is huge,” MSU coach Vann Stuedeman said. “We talk all the time about how conference series are like super regional series. Each weekend, you are going to face somebody really good in this league. Winning a conference series is something similar to what you will be asked to do in postseason.”
The Bulldogs last won three-straight conference series in Stuedeman’s first season in 2012.
Now eighth in the conference, MSU can clinch a berth in the SEC tournament with one more victory. The 12-team tournament starts May 10 in Knoxville, Tennessee.
National exposure
MSU and Arkansas had the national softball stage almost too themselves Monday night.
When it launched, the SEC Network was given one Saturday-Sunday-Monday conference series each week. The Sunday and Monday games are on national television in prime time, essentially after the rest of the nation’s action has been played.
“The opportunity to play on the SEC Network is hugely impactful to our program,” Stuedeman said. “It is a chance to showcase Starkville and our university on a national stage on a night where there are not a lot of other softball options. I was coaching softball before the SEC Network. When I played in college, there was always one softball game on television. It was the national championship game and it was always Arizona versus UCLA. I can remember sitting there, watching those games on television, and saying I want to do that one day.
“For today’s players, they don’t really have an idea about how special playing on television is. I am honored and proud to be in this position. From a recruiting standpoint, it is a huge advantage for our program.”
The Atlantic Coast Conference also has a nationally televised game on ESPNU on Monday nights. The Sunday night SEC television window is only up against regional softball coverage on the Pac-12 Network.
MSU has had the good fortune of playing at home in each of the last two seasons in the three-year history of the package. MSU played host to Ole Miss in a three-game series at Nusz Park in the same television windows last year. In 2015, MSU played at Arkansas.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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