Scouting Mississippi State Softball's opponents in the Palo Alto regional
. 3. . . 2359. . CSF. . 36-17, 22-5 Big West.
State's opening matchup in the Palo Alto regional is against 3-seed Cal State Fullerton. The Titans dominated a weak Big West Conference, but this team is legit. They're strong both on the mound and at the plate and own impressive wins over Tennessee and Michigan. This will actually be the second time State has played Fullerton this year. The Bulldogs beat the Titans 4-2 in the Mary Nutter Classic early in the year.
Biggest Strength: The Titans are another good pitching team with a 2.26 ERA and just a .217 batting average allowed. They can rack up strikeouts and don't allow many extra base hits.
Player to Know: The quality of starting pitchers in Palo Alto is high. Haley Rainey has a 1.76 ERA and 1.07 WHIP with 147 Ks to just 43 BB. She's thrown 10 complete games this year.
Key Stat: Fullerton is hyper aggressive running the bases. They've attempted 136 stolen bases this year, converting on 106 of them. Teams haven't run much on State this year, but opponents have converted on 88% of steal opportunities. This could be one of those factors that ultimately makes the difference when these two meet Friday night.