Winless in SEC, MSU comes to town with MU looking to snap losing streak

Ben Miglore

Only one team in the Southeastern Conference has failed to win so far in conference play: Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs are last in the conference after a 0-9 start and have been outscored 51-11 in the process.

Mississippi State is coming to Columbia this weekend, and No. 18 Missouri should look at those numbers as an excellent opportunity to snap the three-game losing streak it carries into the series. Mizzou Softball Stadium will play host to the two teams Friday-Sunday.

Missouri was in a state of misery over the course of its losing streak. The offense that had been so potent so far this season was held in check, first by Ali Kilponen and LSU, then by rival Kansas.

The Tigers were outhit in each of their three losses, the first time that has occurred in any three-game stretch this season.

The pitching has also struggled. In the final game of the series against LSU, it gave up 18 hits, the most to any opponent this season. Even No. 1 Oklahoma had fewer than that in a 11-0 five-inning victory over MU on March 7.

Despite the poor offensive showing, Missouri sits at No. 2 in the conference in batting average at .340. Led by Abby George (.477) and Jenna Laird (.413), the Tigers still boast a strong complement of players that are capable of snapping them out of their slump at any moment.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, sit dead last in offense and second from bottom in pitching. They bat .192 in SEC games, scoring the fewest runs with 11.

Any offense they have been able to put up comes primarily from Fa Leilua and Mia Davidson. Leilua leads the team in batting average at .368. She also leads the team with 13 homers and 34 RBI. Davidson has batted .316 on the year and has hit 10 homers.

As for the pitching, Mississippi State is one of two teams with a conference team ERA worse than 5.00, although after the LSU series Missouri is just below that mark at 4.99.

At 5.87, only South Carolina has a worse ERA in SEC play than the Bulldogs.

If this series goes anything like the Tigers’ road trip to South Carolina, they should be breaking out of their slump. Missouri put up 30 runs over three games against the Gamecocks and will be hoping to do the same against MSU.