Mississippi State didn’t leave the SEC awards list empty handed. Alyssa Faircloth and Nadia Barbary both picked up Second Team All‑SEC honors on Friday, and Faircloth added an extra piece of hardware as the league’s Newcomer of the Year. It’s been clear for months that Faircloth was one of the best pitchers in the conference, and the numbers back it up. She led the SEC in strikeouts with 231 in the regular season, including 105 in league play. She broke the school record for strikeouts looking at the SEC Tournament and is closing in on the overall single‑season strikeout mark, sitting just 15 shy. Opponents hit .188 against her, and her 10.73 strikeouts per seven innings set a new Mississippi State record by a wide margin. — Mississippi State Softball (@HailStateSB) May 8, 2026 Faircloth is also the second Bulldog pitcher to earn a newcomer honor this year after USA Today recognized Peja Goold earlier in the spring. For a program that has leaned heavily on its pitching staff, that’s not nothing.…