Softball Set for Sold Out Showdown Against No. 18 Mississippi State

HATTIESBURG, Miss.-Southern Miss Softball (16-16, 3-3 Sun Belt) prepares for a midweek showdown against No. 18 Mississippi State (27-6, 5-1 SEC) Wednesday night at 6 p.m.

The Golden Eagles will clash against the Bulldogs in front of a sold out crowd at the Southern Miss Softball Complex. The game will mark the team's first sellout since a record 1,571 fans packed the stands against No. 3 Alabama on March 15, 2022.

Game 33: No. 18 Mississippi State (27-6, 5-1 SEC) at Southern Miss (16-16, 3-3 Sun Belt)
Wednesday, March 26 at 6:00 p.m.
Hattiesburg, Miss.
Southern Miss Softball Complex
ESPN+: https://bit.ly/4iwY4uD
Live Stats: https://smttt.info/Stats

Southern Miss is following a successful showing in week seven, earning three wins at home, including its first conference series win of the season against Troy.

The Golden Eagles started the week with a 10-4 win against Nicholls, scoring double-digit runs for the fourth time this season.

Southern Miss extended its winning streak to three games starting its weekend series against Troy with a 6-4 win on Friday and 7-3 victory on Saturday. The Trojans avoided a series sweep, taking Sunday's game 6-2.

The Golden Eagles will face a nationally ranked Mississippi State team moving up the leaderboards after winning seven of its last ten games, including a 5-1 start in SEC play.

Southern Miss Notes

Southern Miss boasts a 12-4 record at home, already surpassing last season's home win total. The Golden Eagles finished the 2024 home slate with a 10-6 record, marking the third consecutive season that the team recorded a .500 or better standing at home, the longest streak for the program since 2008-2010. Southern Miss looks to extend that streak to four seasons which was last done from 2003-2006.

Senior pitcher Jana Lee reached a milestone of 200 career strikeouts Friday night, delivering a complete-game performance against the Trojans with ten strikeouts to earn her seventh win of the season.

Freshman pitcher Kayla Giardina leads the Golden Eagles with 59 strikeouts, which ranks second among Sun Belt freshmen, only behind Maddie Johnson's 76 strikeouts for Georgia Southern.

Freshman outfielder Hannah Christian led the Golden Eagles with six hits, six RBI and four runs scored in week seven, maintaining a .400 batting average and .438 on base percentage. Christian earned a hit in all four games in week seven to lead the Golden Eagles to their first series win of the season against Troy. She extended her hitting streak to five games, which is the longest of her career. The Hoover, Ala. native recorded her third game of the season with three hits on Friday, lifting Southern Miss to a 6-4 victory. She hit a 2 RBI single in the fourth inning and also stole her tenth base of the season, which is tied for sixth most in the Sun Belt this season. Her RBI single on Saturday broke the game open, as the Golden Eagles scored three runs on the play following a Troy throwing error to give Southern Miss a 6-2 lead. Following week seven, Christian leads Southern Miss with 30 hits and 19 runs, batting at .319 on the season.

Southern Miss won consecutive games against Troy for just the third time in series history, and picked up their first series win in the Sun Belt against the Trojans. The Golden Eagles' win Saturday gave the team three straight victories over Trojans for the first time in the series' history, which dates back to 1988. The Golden Eagles handed Troy back-to-back losses for only the second time this season, following their consecutive losses against Georgia Tech and Michigan in February.

Southern Miss has enjoyed an explosive start to conference play, ranking second in the Sun Belt in runs (47), hits (56), walks (30), doubles (10) and third in RBI (36).

Graduate student Mikaila Fox ranks fourth in the Sun Belt with nine hits during conference play. She has maintained a team-high .450 batting average against Sun Belt opponents and recently recorded a career-high three RBI against the Colonels on Wednesday.

Wednesday's game versus the Bulldogs will mark the first time Mississippi State has traveled to Hattiesburg since the 2022 season, when the Golden Eagles won 3-0.

Scouting Mississippi State

Mississippi State is led by sixth-year head coach Samantha Ricketts, who has posted a 186-106 record with the program.

Sierra Sacco leads the SEC with 50 hits and 12 doubles, and has tallied 33 RBI and 44 runs, batting .510 with an .857 slugging percentage. Sacco ranks among the top ten nationally in batting average, hits, on-base percentage and runs. Sacco's 29-game reached base streak recently ended last weekend, going down as the program's seventh-longest in program history.

Raelin Chaffin has pitched 98.2 innings this season for the Bulldogs, boasting a 15-2 record and 120 strikeouts, which ranks ninth nationally. Delainey Everett paces the team with a 1.37 ERA with a perfect 6-0 record in 12 appearances.

Series History

Mississippi State leads the all-time series 40-14. The Golden Eagles beat the Bulldogs for the first time since 2011 in the 2022 season. The win also marked Southern Miss' first victory over the Bulldogs at home since April 3, 2002.

For the latest information on Southern Miss Softball, follow the program on Facebook (facebook.com/SouthernMissSB), Twitter (@SouthernMissSB) and Instagram (@southernmisssb).

Softball Set for Sold Out Showdown Against No. 18 Mississippi State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Hannah Christian

Mikaila Fox

Kayla Giardina

Jana Lee

Softball Set for Sold Out Showdown Against No. 18 Mississippi State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Hannah Christian

Mikaila Fox

Kayla Giardina

Jana Lee

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