Flesher, Bramlett Lead No. 21 MSU Softball To Bully Bash Title

Sunday, March 30

Starkville

12:00 p.m.

Mississippi State

29-11

Georgetown

17-25

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Georgetown	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	6	4
Mississippi State	2	3	0	1	1	0	X	7	9	0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Miss. Valley St.	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3
Mississippi State	1	4	5	2	X	12	14	0

Bulldog Softball Travels To No. 2 Alabama For SEC Lidlifter

Flesher, Bramlett Lead No. 21 MSU Softball To Bully Bash Title

March 30, 2008 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics (vs. Georgetown)
? Official Statistics (vs. Georgetown) (PDF)
? Official Statistics (vs. MVSU)
? Official Statistics (vs. MVSU) (PDF)

STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Mississippi State sophomore Chelsea Bramlett's inside-the-park home run sparked a 4-for-5 afternoon, and Misty Flesher came three out shy of a perfect game as the Bulldogs swept Georgetown and Mississippi Valley State 7-2 and 12-0, respectively, to claim the 2008 Bully Bash championship Sunday afternoon at the MSU Softball Field.

The tournament-clinching victory over MVSU moves State to 30-11 on the season, the 12th straight season with 30-plus wins for the program.

State swept all three of its home tournaments this season, and combined with the season-opening Cathedral City Kickoff championship, has laid claim to four titles this season.

Flesher improved her record to 12-6 on the year as she picked up her second win of the weekend against the Delta Devilettes. Flesher struck out six over the full five innings and had a perfect game broken up in the fifth on a Megan Hays lead-off double.

Flesher's outstanding weekend earned her tournament MVP accolades, while Ali Bainbridge, Bramlett, Jessie Bailey, Jessie Spain, Hayle Guess, Courtney Bures, Kelsey Nurnberg and Nakita Boyce earned all-tournament honors along with Samantha Peters of Georgetown and Traci Roper of MVSU.

Nurnberg earned the victory over Georgetown in the opener to move to 14-5 on the year. The Ankeny, Iowa, native allowed a pair of runs on six this while striking out a career-best 10 in the complete-game effort.

"Our players did a great job swinging the bats this weekend," State head coach Jay Miller said. "We came out this weekend and played our game, and we hit well throughout the line-up. Our pitching was really good, and they got some help from some solid defense. This was a nice breather from conference play and a great way to get some confidence back. Overall, this was a great weekend for us."

Bramlett and Bailey led a group of five State players to collect two hits each in the win over MVSU. The sophomore from Cordova, Tenn., went 2-for-2 and drove in two runs while scoring twice. Jessie Bailey hit her fourth double of the weekend as she went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a pair of runs.

State continued its early-game offensive production in both games. In the second game of the twin bill, State struck with a run in the first and never looked back in its third straight win over Valley.

With one out in the Bulldogs' first at-bat, Bramlett reached on a bunt single, stole second and scored on a Bures base hit to put MSU up 1-0.

MState expanded the cushion with a four-run second that started with a Spain walk and a Bailey RBI double down the line in left field. Bailey advanced to third on a Bainbridge bunt and put State on top 3-0 as she crossed home on a single to second base by Boyce. Bramlett followed with her second base hit, a hard shot to center that plated Bainbridge for a 4-0 lead, and scored on an MVSU error, one of three in the game.

The Bulldog offense continued its hitting display off MVSU starter Shelly Hadaller (2-5) with five more runs in the third. Hadaller allowed nine earned runs on 14 hits with one strikeout in the losing effort.

Guess and Spain led the inning off with back-to-back singles. After advancing into scoring position on a wild pitch, the pair scored as Jessie Bailey lined a single into left field. Bainbridge and Boyce followed with a single and walk, respectively, and the duo scored as Bramlett hit a fly ball to the warning track in left that popped out of the glove of Roper. With the Bulldogs leading 9-0, Boyce moved to third on a Bures fly ball to center and came home on a Lindsay Hunley sharply-hit ground ball that deflected off the leg of Hadaller and rolled into shallow left field.

MSU added the final two runs in the fourth as Spain singled and Megan Bateman was hit by a pitch. After Brittany Bell was hit by a pitch, Spain and Bateman scored on Bures' two-out single to center.

Bramlett opened her day by going 2-for-3, including an inside-the-park home run, with three RBI and three runs scored as Mississippi State knocked off the Hoyas 7-2. Bramlett's home run was her second of the season, and it was the second inside-the-park home run of the year by a Bulldog.

Boyce went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored twice as the Bulldogs picked up nine hits in support of Nurnberg.

Jennifer Connell suffered the loss for GU to fall to 13-18 on the campaign. Connell allowed seven runs, four earned, off of nine hits with a strikeout and a walk.

The Bulldogs took a 5-0 lead with two runs in the first and three more in the second. Boyce kicked off the scoring as she tripled to lead off the bottom of the first and scored on Bramlett's fielder's choice. Bramlett, who advanced to second on the fielder's choice, stole third and scored as the catcher's throw was deflected into the outfield.

MSU scored its three second-inning runs with two outs. Boyce reached on a bunt single and stole second. Bramlett scored her on her inside-the-park home run, a line drive to the wall in right field. Bures followed with a base hit up the middle and scored on the third of Georgetown's four errors.

The Bulldogs added another run in the fourth on Hunley's sacrifice fly and scored in the fifth as Spain crossed home following a Bainbridge single.

The Bulldogs return to the road Tuesday, taking on MVSU in the fourth meeting of the season between the two teams. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Itta Bena. Following the mid-week road trip, MSU returns to SEC action with a Thursday doubleheader against Kentucky and a three-game series with third-ranked Florida.