by Brian Ogden
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Déjà vu struck in Columbia, South Carolina, Saturday as No. 16 Mississippi State again shut out No. 22 South Carolina to clinch the series.
Aspen Wesley did her best to one-up Josey Marron’s efforts in the circle from Friday night, holding the Gamecocks (27-12, 3-8 SEC) to just two hits, while striking out a career-high-tying nine. The duo has allowed five total hits through 14.0 innings in the series and walked only two batters.
“I thought Aspen once again was just super efficient. She did a great job of attacking, mixing pitches, locations and speeds,” head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “She gave us a quality start just like Josey yesterday and kept getting us back in the dugout so we could scratch across more runs for her. I thought she showed a lot of composure, poise and toughness, especially coming back out to finish that game after taking a ball off the arm.”
The Bulldogs once again opened the scoring in the first inning as Sierra Sacco came home from first on a Nadia Barbary double. State (28-9, 8-6 SEC) plate two runs in the second on a bases-loaded walk from Aquana Brownlee and a sacrifice fly from Sacco, before Madisyn Kennedy brought home a final run with a bases-loaded walk in the third.
