Bulldog Softball Drops 7-3 Decision To USM To Close Season-Opening Homestand

Wednesday, February 11

Starkville

3:00 PM

Mississippi State

3-2

Southern Miss

3-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Southern Mississippi	1	4	0	2	0	0	0	7	11	3
Mississippi State	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	3	7	0

Bell's Hit Rallies MSU Softball to 4-3 Win, Bulldog Classic Championship

Bulldog Softball Drops 7-3 Decision To USM To Close Season-Opening Homestand

February 11, 2009 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)

STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Sophomore Brittany Bell went 2-for-3 and scored a run as Mississippi State's softball team closed out a season-opening home stand with a 7-3 loss to Southern Mississippi Wednesday afternoon at the MSU Softball Field.

USM (3-2) jumped out to an early lead with a run in the top of the first, but the Bulldogs (3-2), who collected seven hits in the contest, answered in the home half of the opening frame. Junior Chelsea Bramlett reached on an infield hit to leadoff the inning, and she advanced to second as the throw to first sailed wide of the base. Jessie Spain moved her to third on a ground-out to the pitcher, and Bramlett knotted the game at a run apiece as she came home on Ali Bainbridge's ground ball to second.

Southern Mississippi responded, however, with a four-run second inning. Lauren Castellvi walked and Chanell Thurman reached on a base hit off MSU starter Elizabeth Woolven. Courtney Hill then hit a bases-clearing triple, her second in as many at-bats, to give USM a 3-1 advantage. Kristin Pilgrim expanded the lead to three runs with a single, and Megan Hill capped the four-run burst with a double to left-center.

Woolven fell to 0-2 on the year as she allowed five runs on six hits with a walk and a strikeout in 1 2/3 innings. Freshman Lindsey Dunlap went the rest of the way, surrendering back-to-back home runs in the fourth and five hits with four strikeouts.

“It seemed like from the first pitch we weren't focused. We didn't have the intensity that we needed,” MState head coach Jay Miller said. “Lindsey did a nice job, but the back-to-back home runs didn't help when we were trying to claw back in the game. Offensively, we lacked focus and didn't have good at-bats.”

The Bulldogs cut the lead to 7-2 in the home half of the fourth as Bell singled, moved to second on a fielder's choice, took third on a passed ball and scored on a Ka'ili Smith sacrifice fly. State added its final score in the sixth as Sammie Jo Bailey reached on a fielder's choice and took second on an error. Bell singled to move her to third, and she scored on sister Jessie's ground-out to first.

Freshman Courtney Ramos moved to 3-0 for the Golden Eagles. Ramos allowed the three Bulldog runs, none earned, on seven hits with five strikeouts in the complete-game effort.

Pilgrim paced USM with a 3-for-4, three-RBI effort, while Courtney and Megan Hill each collected two hits apiece and drove in a pair of runs.

State hits the road this weekend, traveling to Tallahassee, Fla., to take part in the FSU Sunshine Classic. The Bulldogs open at 3:45 p.m. CST on Friday, taking on 23rd-ranked Purdue. Miller's squad faces Miami of Ohio and Appalachian State on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. CST and 3:45 p.m. CST, respectively. The Dogs close out the weekend against the host Seminoles in a Sunday tilt set for a 12:30 p.m. CST first pitch.