STARKVILLE — They call her “pinch-hit Paige” for a reason.
She may be just a freshman, but Paige Ernstes has displayed remarkable calm coming off the bench in big moments for Mississippi State this season. Entering Friday’s series opener against No. 1 Texas, seven of Ernstes’ 10 hits had come in pinch roles. So with the game tied in the seventh inning, two outs and the winning run at first base, head coach Samantha Ricketts sent Ernstes to the plate to bat for first baseman Riley Hull.
On a 2-2 pitch, Ernstes hit a line drive off Longhorns ace Teagan Kavan that dropped just inside the left-field foul line and rolled into the corner. Pinch-runner Abby Grace Richardson was off on contact and scored all the way from first without a throw as No. 18 MSU earned a 4-3, walk-off win.
“I just appreciate the moment that I’m in. I’m grateful for all the opportunities I get,” Ernstes said. “A lot of times, you can get caught up in the moment and make yourself be rushed, but I like to look around and take in the moment and just be grateful.”
The Bulldogs would end up losing the series after the second game of Friday’s doubleheader slipped away in the seventh inning and the bats were quiet in Sunday’s rubber match. But MSU proved it can compete with the top of the heap in the Southeastern Conference and is still very much in contention to host its first-ever NCAA regional.
Chaffin is a workhorse, but even she has limits
Before the end of March, Raelin Chaffin — even coming off thyroid cancer treatment in the offseason — has blown past her innings total from any of her previous three seasons at LSU. So far, she has not worn down, taking the reins as the Bulldogs’ ace on Opening Day and establishing herself as one of the SEC’s best pitchers. But when a lineup as good as that of Texas sees the same pitcher over and over, eventually hitters will make adjustments.
Chaffin pitched shutout ball into the sixth in the series opener, and a solo home run from freshman Morgan Stiles helped MSU (29-8, 6-3 SEC) take a two-run lead. But Leighann Goode homered to lead off the sixth, putting the Longhorns (34-3, 7-2) on the board, and Texas scored two more in the inning to go in front. Chaffin still gutted out a complete game with a three-up, three down seventh and earned the win after Ernstes’ walk-off double.
The Bulldogs pushed across the tying run in the bottom of the sixth on Nadia Barbary’s single to right as Sierra Sacco just beat the throw to the plate.
“(Chaffin) really competed every inning out there,” Ricketts said. “Raelin expects to compete with them every pitch. There’s no excuses from this team, this lineup. We expect to be able to go out there and fight until the end.”
Sophomore left-hander Delainey Everett, who has emerged in recent weeks as MSU’s second-best pitcher, threw four strong innings in Friday’s second game, allowing just one run on a Mia Scott homer. Lexi Sosa and Stiles went deep for the Bulldogs, who took a three-run lead on a Kiarra Sells sacrifice fly in the third.
They still led by two when Chaffin entered the game in the fifth, and by one entering the seventh. But Joley Mitchell tied the game with a one-out solo homer, and Texas kept the rally going with four straight hits, capped by a three-run blast from Scott that chased Chaffin from the game. The Longhorns then put out an MSU rally in the bottom of the inning for a 7-3 win.
“They’re upset about that second game, because we know we were right there with it and we had our opportunities,” Ricketts said. “It was just really good to see that grittiness that we know is in there, we’ve shown signs of, and they really exemplified that.”
Path to hosting is there with just one more non-conference game
Chaffin started again Sunday after the weather allowed her a day of rest, but Texas jumped on her for back-to-back triples to start the game, plating two runs in the first. She settled down after that until the third time through the Longhorns’ lineup in the fifth, when Mitchell punctuated a four-run rally to put the game out of reach.
Kavan pitched six shutout innings for the visitors, and the two runs the Bulldogs scored in the seventh were not nearly enough.
“We expect ourselves to compete every game, and it just didn’t seem like we did that,” Ricketts said. “There’s a lot of disappointment. I’d much rather we be frustrated and upset than just happy to take one. That’s not this team, that’s not the mentality, that’s not the goal with what we have for the rest of the season.”
MSU is 20th in the updated RPI after the weekend and has its final midweek game of the year Tuesday against Central Arkansas. Its two toughest remaining series are both on the road, at Tennessee this coming weekend and at Oklahoma from Apr. 18-20.
The Bulldogs will also travel to Kentucky and host Missouri and Ole Miss, so if they win each of those three series and can take a game from the Volunteers or Sooners, there could be a Starkville Regional for the first time.
“We’re not really talking end of the year right now. The goal is to compete in the SEC and to compete at the top,” Ricketts said. “When you start looking ahead and talking about a regional or whatever it might be at the end, any sort of standings, that’s more pressure.”
Mississippi State softball MSU
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