Bulldog Softball Wraps Up Perfect Fall With Sweep Of Shelton State
October 14, 2008 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Mississippi State junior Chelsea Bramlett went 4-for-6 at the plate and sophomore Ali Bainbridge drove in three runs as the Bulldog softball team wrapped up a perfect fall slate with 2-1 and 9-6 wins over Shelton State Community College Tuesday night at the MSU Softball Field.
? Official Statistics (Game 1) (PDF)
? Official Statistics (Game 2)
? Official Statistics (Game 2) (PDF)
Bramlett, a two-time NFCA all-American, went 2-for-3 in both outings to finish the fall with a .462 batting average. Bainbridge, a Vestavia Hills, Ala., native, drove in a run with her lone hit in the opener before plating a pair of runs on a 2-for-4 outing in the nightcap.
Senior Kelsey Nurnberg notched the win in the day's first game as she allowed a run on just two hits while striking out four over four innings. Sophomore Elizabeth Woolven struck out three through a perfect final three innings to pick up her second save of the fall.
The duo got all the offensive help they would need in the first inning. Bramlett singled, stole second, and scored on Bainbridge's single to right field. Freshman Ka'ili Smith reached on a fielder's choice and moved to second on junior Jessie Bailey's fielder's choice that retired Bainbridge at third. Smith put State up 2-0 as she came home on sophomore Brittany Bell's RBI single.
State continued the early offense in the second game, plating six runs in the opening frame. Bramlett was hit by a pitch to lead-off the game, and after stealing second and third, she scored on sophomore Allie Heon's triple to the wall in right-center.
Bainbridge followed with a base hit that scored Heon and extended the MState lead to 2-0. After Bainbridge was thrown out stealing, the Bulldogs loaded the bases as Smith walked, senior Sammie Jo Bailey reached on an error in left field and Bell beat out a bunt single. Jessie Bailey scored Smith and her sister Sammie Jo with a single up the middle, and Laurie Siebert capped the six-run frame with her sacrifice fly that plated Bell after she moved to third on a Jessie Spain single.
Shelton State cut into the lead with a Madison Fuller lead-off home run in the fourth. The run would be the only one that freshman Lindsey Dunlap would allow in picking up the win. The Hueytown, Ala., native struck out six and scattered four hits over five innings. Woolven surrendered three unearned runs over an inning, and Nurnberg tossed the final frame, allowing two runs on as many hits.
State answered Fuller's home run with a three-run fifth inning that would prove to be the decisive runs after Shelton tacked on five more runs over the final two innings. Siebert, hitting for freshman Brittany Gates, reached on an error by the Shelton shortstop to start the inning. Gates retuned to run and moved to second on a Bramlett base hit before scoring on a Heon single. Bramlett and Heon advanced to third and second, respectively, on a throwing error, and Bramlett touched home on a Bainbridge ground-out.
“It was the end to a good fall,” Bulldog head coach Jay Miller said. “We were a little sloppy, and that was kind of expected after a hard week of lifting weights. I felt good about what we accomplished in the fall. We did some nice things at the plate and in the circle, and our young players really settled in. We really got a good indication of the areas we need to work on as we prepare for the spring.”
Miller's squad opens the 2009 spring campaign Feb. 6-8, hosting Kennesaw State, Iona and Louisiana-Monroe in the Bulldog Round-Robin.
