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Last season, Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller’s Bulldog squad that featured just four upperclassmen overcame several obstacles and advanced to an NCAA Regional for the third-straight season and the eighth in program history. The young unit had to mature quickly, and Miller is optimistic that the challenges faced in 2009 along with a heralded freshman class will help the Dawgs earn the school’s ninth trip to the postseason.

State features a pair of stellar senior leaders in third baseman Jessie Bailey and all-America catcher Chelsea Bramlett. Bailey possesses a strong glove on the infield, and offensively last season she tied for the team lead with a personal-best four home runs. Bramlett heads into her final season in the Maroon and White looking to become State’s second four-time all-American and the first to capture first-team honors in each season. The Cordova, Tenn., native and USA National Team selection has bettered her offensive numbers each year, and she looks to once again be among the nation’s best at the plate after pacing the conference in batting average and stolen bases a year ago.

Bramlett, a two-time NFCA/Diamond Sports Division I Catcher of the Year, will help develop a pitching staff that returns sophomore Lindsey Dunlap, a 17-game winner who struck out an MSU freshman-best 161 in 2009, along with 2008 20-game winner Misty Flesher. The staff will also get a boost from the addition of standout rookies Stephanie Becker and Kylie Vry, who were part of the Dawgs’ freshman class that was named "Up and Coming" by ESPN Rise. The staff should have plenty of help as all but one position starter returns from the 2009 squad that set State’s single-season fielding percentage record for the second-straight year. Junior Ali Bainbridge returns to anchor the infield along with Bailey after earning NFCA All-Region accolades in 2009. State also welcomes back sophomore Ka’ili Smith following an outstanding rookie season in which she was the team’s second-best hitter en route to being the lone freshman to earn All-SEC (2nd team) honors. Junior Brittany Bell returns to the other side of the outfield after finishing the 2009 season as one of the team’s top hitters.