No. 15 MSU Softball Opens Home SEC Slate Saturday Against Second-Ranked Alabama
March 13, 2008 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The 15th-ranked Mississippi State softball team opens its home Southeastern Conference slate this weekend, hosting No. 2 Alabama in a three-game set beginning Saturday at the MSU Softball Field on the State campus.
The two teams open the three-game set Saturday with a doubleheader that is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch. The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide close their 12th series meeting Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission to all MSU home games is free of charge. Saturday's opening game, along with Sunday's series finale, will be broadcast live on WMSV 91.1 and online at www.wmsv.msstate.edu/.
MState enters the weekend with a 22-6 mark and a 1-2 conference slate after dropping the final two games of a mid-week series at Auburn. The Bulldogs got a Jessie Bailey home run in the series opener en route to an 8-3 victory, but Auburn rallied from a 4-0 deficit to win game two on a walk-off home run in the ninth inning. AU rode the momentum of that victory to claim Wednesday's rubber game.
Alabama comes to Starkville 21-3 on the year and 3-2 in SEC play. The Crimson Tide split a mid-week doubleheader with fourth-ranked Florida on Wednesday, winning the opener 1-0 before dropping the nightcap 8-4.
Sophomore Chelsea Bramlett continues to pace MSU at the plate. The Cordova, Tenn., native hit .400 with three stolen bases and two runs to bump her season average to .459. Bramlett has a double, three triples, one home run, 17 RBI and 25 runs scored on the year. She is also a perfect 26-for-26 in stolen bases, which ranks second in the conference behind Bama's Brittany Rogers.
Freshman Ali Bainbridge of Vestavia Hills, Ala., had a stellar showing in her first SEC series, hitting .400 (4-for-10) with a double, three RBI and two runs against the Tigers. Bainbridge leaped her average to .333 on the season with four doubles, a home run, 12 RBI and 16 runs scored.
Senior Courtney Bures went 3-for-8 (.375) at the plate during the Auburn series to improve to .341 on the year. Bures has hit a team second-best three home runs, driven in 17 runs and scored 18 more.
Freshman Misty Flesher picked up State's win against AU, tossing six and a third innings and allowing three runs on nine hits with four strikeouts. The Lone Grove, Okla., sits at 7-3 on the season with a 1.95 ERA, 46 strikeouts and just seven walks. Junior Kelsey Nurnberg has a 12-2 mark and 1.75 ERA in the circle this season for MSU. The Ankeny, Iowa, native allowed a run on five hits with four strikeouts over five and one-third innings in the second game against Auburn.
Lauren Parker, who has played in 19 games this season, leads the Crimson Tide with a .524 average, six home runs and 25 RBI. Rogers is hitting .513 with 38 runs scored and 30 stolen bases. Charlotte Morgan and Chrissy Owens have combined for an 11-0 mark in the circle, while Kelsi Dunne is 9-3 on the year with a 1.49 ERA.
