Mississippi State softball begins postseason play tonight in the SEC Tournament, hosted this year in Auburn, Alabama. The Bulldogs just finished out one of the best regular seasons in the program's recent history with a series victory over Georgia, in which star pitcher Aspen Wesley threw two winning complete games.
Mississippi State finished the regular season with a 33-17 overall record and a 12-12 conference record. That 12-12 mark was their best since the SEC adopted their current scheduling format. That finish earned the Bulldogs, who are ranked #15 nationally by D1 Softball, the 6-seed in the SEC Tournament.
State's first SEC Tournament matchup is against the Gamecocks of South Carolina.
Mississippi State softball vs South Carolina game time and TV broadcast
6-seed Mississippi State softball begins SEC Tournament action tonight, Wednesday May 8, in Auburn, Alabama against the 11-seed South Carolina Gamecocks. The game is scheduled to start at approximately 7:00 pm CT. Officially, the game will begin 35 minutes after the conclusion of Georgia and Auburn's matchup, which is scheduled for 4:00 pm CT.
Mississippi State's matchup with South Carolina is slated to be broadcast on the SEC Network. It will also be available for streaming through Watch ESPN or the ESPN app.
Mississippi State softball won the series against South Carolina earlier this season
These two teams have already met this season, with Mississippi State traveling to Columbia to face the Gamecocks the first weekend of April. The Bulldogs took two out of three from South Carolina, winning 6-0 and 4-0 on Friday and Saturday, respectively, before dropping the series finale on Sunday 3-1. It was an impressive road series victory for State over a team that was then ranked #22 nationally.
South Carolina has struggled some since that Sunday win over State. They proceeded to go 5-9 in their remaining games with just one more SEC series win. The Gamecocks are currently 33-21 overall and 8-16 in the SEC.
This will be a fun clash of styles. Mississippi State is one of the best hitting teams in the SEC while South Carolina is among the worst. On the flip side, the Gamecocks are one of the better pitching teams in the SEC while State has been towards the bottom of the league.
Hopefully, the Bulldogs will continue their momentum and handle South Carolina like they did in the regular season.