Bailey Collects Three Hits As MSU Drops Hard-Fought, 3-0 Decision To No. 2 'Bama

Sunday, March 16

Starkville

1:00 p.m.

Mississippi State

22-9, 0

#2 Alabama

24-3, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Alabama	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	6	1
Mississippi State	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	2

MSU Softball Lands Three On ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team

Bailey Collects Three Hits As MSU Drops Hard-Fought, 3-0 Decision To No. 2 'Bama

March 16, 2008 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)

STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Mississippi State junior Sammie Jo Bailey went 3-for-3 at the plate, and Kelsey Nurnberg went the distance for the second time in as many days as the 15th-ranked Bulldogs dropped a hard-fought 3-0 decision to No. 2 Alabama Sunday afternoon at the MSU Softball Field.

Bailey, the Lithonia, Ga., native, picked up half of MSU's three hits, but the Bulldogs left six runners on base, including two in scoring position, as they fell to 22-9 on the year and 1-5 in Southeastern Conference play. Alabama improved to 24-3 overall, 6-2 in the conference, with the series sweep.

All three UA runs came in the top of the fifth as Nurnberg fell to 12-4 on the season. Just two of the runs were earned for the Ankeny, Iowa, native, who allowed six hits and struck out two while walking a pair.

MSU had a chance to jump on top early for the second straight game. Courtney Bures, who hit a team-best .400 on the week, led off with a single through the right side. Bailey moved her to second with a pop-fly to short that a diving Kellie Eubanks couldn't snag. Bures moved to third on Jessie Bailey's fielder's choice, but Crimson Tide starter Chrissy Owens got a line-out to short and a strikeout to end the threat.

Owens moved to 8-0 on the year with the shutout. Owens allowed seven hits and struck out four on the afternoon.

"I thought we played another good game today," MState head coach Jay Miller said. "We got another good pitching performance from Kelsey. I was proud of the way we competed out there. We had to get the big hits, and not being able to do that was the difference in the game."

Eubanks kicked off Bama's decisive fifth inning with a single. After Brittany Rogers reached on a base hit, the pair scored on Kelley Montalvo's double that went just over the out-stretched glove of State left fielder Nakita Boyce. Montalvo later scored on Lauren Parker's ground ball that snuck under the glove of MSU freshman Ali Bainbridge.

State steps out of conference for its next action, traveling to Hattiesburg, Miss., on Tuesday to challenge Southern Mississippi in a game slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch.