STARKVILLE -- Mississippi State fourth-year softball coach Vann Stuedeman had little trouble praising the left side of her infield a season ago.

Stuedeman felt like third baseman Caroline Seitz and shortstop Kayla Winkfield combined to form "the best left side of the infield" in the Southeastern Conference.

That duo will try again this season to back up Stuedeman's praise. Their leadership on and off the field will be key at 5:30 p.m. Thursday when MSU plays host to Mississippi Valley State in the season-opening Bulldog Kickoff Classic at the MSU Softball Field. The game will be the first of five MSU will play in four days in the event.

"We are excited to get the season started," said Winkfield, a junior from Giddings, Texas. "Last season, we were learning one another. This year is different. We have a comfort level. We know our coaches have high praise for us, but we want to go out and back that up every day."

At the squad's annual Media Day on Monday, Stuedeman called Winkfield "arguably the best shortstop in the nation." In 60 starts last season for MSU (39-21), Winkfield hit .221 and had a .932 fielding percentage.

To Winkfield's right, Seitz hit .340 en route to National Fastpitch Coaches Association Freshman All-America honors. Also a member of the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman team, Seitz was one of the biggest surprises last season.

"This team is so competitive," said Seitz, a Birmingham, Alabama, native. "That is why it is exciting to come to practice every day. Wink and I have a connection on the field. It's good chemistry. We feel like we have that side of the field on lockdown.

Winkfield said the competition makes each player better.

"We compete on everything," Winkfield said. "Even if it's a base hit through the hole, we will kid one another and say that you should have gotten to that ball."

Winkfield said the Bulldogs are hitting with more confidence thanks in large part to new hitting coach Samantha Ricketts. A four-time All-Big 12 selection at Oklahoma, Ricketts come to Starkville after three seasons as a hitting instructor at Wichita State.

"A lot of the players just have a whole new outlook on hitting," Stuedeman said. "They have confidence, and that is in large part to working with Samantha. I know this much. We have scored a ton of runs in the intersquad games. That is our job. We are going to try to push as many of those runners across the dish as we can.

"I think this team will be a little different than the first three from and offensive standpoint. We will be able to do more."

A year ago, MSU finished last in the 13-team SEC with a .257 batting average and 12th in home runs (34). Georgia led the league with 93, while Florida hit 89. Ole Miss was last in home runs with 30.

"What I learned last year is that it is not all about me anymore," Seitz said. "I feel like there are so many other players who are just as capable of having a good game as I am. Whether it is 0-for-3 or 3-for-3, what matters at the end of the day is finding a way to get a win."

In the circle, Stuedeman will rely on Illinois native sophomore Alexis Silkwood. A year ago, Silkwood finished 14-8 with a 2.19 ERA. Last season, she beat five SEC opponents.

"We are having to replace the best pitcher to have ever pitched here (Alison Owen)," Stuedeman said. "We will count on Alexis heavily. We have done some things with her mechanics and, hopefully, found her some more ways to be effective in the circle."

Freshman pitcher Holly Ward figures to be the No. 2. Ward was the Gatorade High School Player of the Year at Haleyville (Ala.) High School last season.

Stuedeman will continue to use her "baseball bullpen" mentality when building the staff, which means multiple players could appear in several games in a weekend series. There are no defined roles, as Silkwood and Ward are projected to start and close.

MSU hopes that combination will be enough to make a fourth-straight NCAA tournament regional appearance. Looking for its 12th regional berth and its first super regional appearance, the program is "incredibly close" to taking the next step, according to Stuedeman.

"We finished 10th in the SEC a year ago," Stuedeman said. "In the SEC tournament, we play No. 7 Kentucky and lose in extra innings. That same Kentucky team goes to the World Series. We take a weekend series from Alabama. Alabama finishes as the national runner-up.

"We take the Alabama series at home one weekend and win a series at Tennessee the next weekend. Both of those teams are in the top five. You win two series like that in the postseason and suddenly you are at the World Series. We are that close. We really are."

Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott