Nurnberg Hurls No. 18 MSU To 5-2 Win Over Louisiana Tech, Bulldog Classic Title

Sunday, March 9

Starkville

2:00 p.m.

Mississippi State

21-4

Louisiana Tech

13-12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Louisiana Tech	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	6	3
Mississippi State	1	1	1	2	0	0	X	5	10	2

No. 25 MState Softball Takes Eight-Game Win Streak To NFCA Leadoff Classic

Nurnberg Hurls No. 18 MSU To 5-2 Win Over Louisiana Tech, Bulldog Classic Title

March 09, 2008 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

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STARKVILLE, Miss. - Kelsey Nurnberg earned her third victory of the weekend, and the Bulldog offense put up five runs over the first four innings as No. 18 Mississippi State won the Bulldog Classic championship with a 5-2 win over Louisiana Tech Sunday afternoon at the MSU Softball Field.

The junior from Ankeny, Iowa, moved to 12-2 on the year as she allowed two unearned runs on six hits with three strikeouts in the complete-game effort. Nurnberg claimed Most Valuable Player accolades along with sophomore Chelsea Bramlett as she gave up two earned runs and struck out 14 to go 3-0 in 16 innings for the Bulldogs (21-4).

"This was a good weekend for us. We got great pitching and outstanding defense in very sloppy conditions," State head coach Jay Miller said. "We made good contact at the plate, and we had good at-bats, which is a very good sign heading into conference play this week. It's nice to see Kelsey dominate the way she is for this time of year. Our pitching staff as a whole did a nice job this weekend. They will keep us in games, and that gives our offense a lot of confidence.

The pitching staff has a lot of confidence right now because our defense is playing really well right now."

Bramlett collected another pair of hits while driving in a run and scoring another in the game. The Cordova, Tenn., native hit .533 (8-for-15) over the four-game set, driving in a run and scoring six times while going a perfect 5-for-5 on stolen bases.

Sammie Jo Bailey capped a solid weekend at the plate on Sunday, going 2-for-2 with an RBI to earn a place on the all-tournament team along with Misty Flesher, Hayle Guess and Courtney Bures.

Bailey jumped State to an early 1-0 lead as she delivered a two-out single up the middle to score Guess, who reached on a base hit, moved to second on a Bures single and stole third.

MSU expanded the edge to 2-0 the next inning. Nakita Boyce hit a two-out triple to left, and Bramlett scored her as she hit a three-bagger off the wall in center field. MSU came through again with two outs in the third as Bailey drew a two-out walk and scored on Gina McCloud's line drive to right that went under the Lady Techster's glove and rolled to the warning track.

MSU took advantage of another Louisiana Tech (13-12) miscue to put the final runs on the board in the fourth. After Bramlett and freshman Ali Bainbridge reached on consecutive singles, Bures hit a ground ball to first base that was thrown errantly into right field to allow both Bramlett and Bainbridge to score and put MSU up 5-0.

Louisiana Tech added a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, but it wasn't enough for Krissi Oliver, who fell to 4-6 after giving up only two earned runs on 10 hits with one strikeout and a pair of walks.

MSU opens Southeastern Conference action Tuesday, traveling to Auburn to take on the Tigers in a three-game set which begins with a doubleheader Tuesday at 5 p.m. State will close out the three-game set Wednesday in a game set for a 4 p.m. first pitch.

Tuesday's second game, along with Wednesday's series final will be broadcast on MSU's official campus radio station, WMSV 91.1. The games can be heard on the World Wide Web at www.wmsv.msstate.edu.