STARKVILLE – Mississippi State Softball Sets Program Record with Six NFCA All-Region Selections
No. 18 Mississippi State made history on Thursday as six Bulldogs were named to the NFCA All-Region teams—the most in program history. The standout group includes three First Team honorees, the highest since 2019.
Sierra Sacco (OF), Raelin Chaffin (P), and Nadia Barbary (3B) were selected to the First Team, while Jessie Blaine (C) and Kylee Edwards (SS) earned Second Team honors. Lexi Sosa (DP/UTL) rounded out the selections on the Third Team.
The Bulldogs have now had multiple players earn All-Region honors in eight straight seasons (excluding the canceled 2020 season). This marks only the third time in program history that three or more Bulldogs landed on the First Team, joining the 2019 and 2009 squads.
Mississippi State is set to face Washington in the Lubbock Regional on Friday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2. A win puts them against the Texas Tech/Brown winner at 1 p.m. Saturday, while a loss sends them to a 3:30 p.m. elimination game.
Nadia Barbary – First Team (3B)
After securing her first All-SEC selection, Barbary collected her second All-Region honor—and first as a First Team member. The junior has hit career highs across the board: 60 hits, 22 extra-base hits, 10 home runs, 43 RBIs, and 103 total bases. She’s hitting .402 with runners on base and led the team with 22 RBIs in SEC play.
In conference action, Barbary’s .351 average ranked among the SEC’s top 20, and her 22 RBIs were 11th-best. Overall, she was second on the team in average (.355), hits, doubles, total bases, multi-hit games, and RBIs. She was also named to the SEC All-Defensive Team at third base.
Raelin Chaffin – First Team (P)
Chaffin, a Second Team All-SEC selection and AUSL draftee, earned her first All-Region recognition. Heading into the NCAA Tournament, she leads the SEC with 21 wins (18th nationally) and ranks fourth in the conference with 17 complete games. She’s also third in the SEC with 187 strikeouts and leads the league with 50 strikeouts looking.
Chaffin became the first Bulldog pitcher since 2015 to win 20 games and pitch in 40 contests. She broke MSU’s single-season record with 10 SEC wins and posted the longest scoreless innings streak (25.0) to open a career in modern program history. She was also the first Bulldog to earn NFCA Pitcher of the Week honors in Week 1 of the season.
Sierra Sacco – First Team (OF)
A First Team All-SEC pick and AUSL draft selection, Sacco enters the NCAA Tournament batting .461—eighth-best in the nation—and boasts a .553 on-base percentage (14th nationally), which would rank second in MSU single-season history.
She leads MSU in nearly every offensive category: slugging percentage, hits, runs, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, and total bases. Sacco has delivered in clutch moments, hitting .455 with runners on base and .488 with runners in scoring position. She’s also driven in 22 two-out RBIs, the sixth-highest mark in school history. Defensively, she’s been flawless in center field with four outfield assists and no errors since 2023.
Jessie Blaine – Second Team (C)
Blaine ranks third on the team with a .328 average and is second with a .466 on-base percentage. In SEC play, she upped her production with a .344 average, .590 slugging, and a .506 OBP, including four home runs. Her on-base percentage ranked sixth in the conference.
The senior catcher leads all Power Four catchers with five pickoffs and helped MSU set a school and national record with eight team pickoffs. She’s also caught three runners stealing and completed the first error-free season in MSU history by a catcher with 150+ chances (232).
Kylee Edwards – Second Team (SS)
Edwards enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign, boosting her batting average to .295 and slugging to .530. She nearly doubled her home run total from five to nine and ranked second among SEC shortstops in extra-base hits (17).
Defensively, she led the Bulldogs with 81 assists and turned nine double plays—raising her career total to 19, good for fourth in school history among shortstops. Her highlight-reel glove flip against Auburn landed her on SportsCenter’s Top 10. On the bases, she went 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts.
Lexi Sosa – Third Team (DP/UTL)
Sosa entered the season with just 27 career at-bats but became a power threat in 2024, hitting double-digit home runs and posting a .567 slugging percentage. More than 60 percent of her hits went for extra bases, and she drove in 29 runs.
She also contributed in the circle, tossing 39 innings, recording two saves, and striking out 27 batters.
Leave a Reply