Bramlett Triple Rallies State To 4-3 Win Over Purdue; Miller Becomes Winningest MSU Coach

Friday, February 13

Tallahassee, Fla.

3:45 PM

Mississippi State

4-2

Purdue

3-1

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

Bulldog Softball Drops Pair Of Decisions To Arkansas Tuesday Afternoon

Bramlett Triple Rallies State To 4-3 Win Over Purdue; Miller Becomes Winningest MSU Coach

February 13, 2009 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ? Chelsea Bramlett drove in the tying run with a triple and scored the walk-off run Friday afternoon as the Mississippi State softball team rallied to down No. 23 Purdue 4-3 at the Florida State-hosted Sunshine Classic in Tallahassee. The victory was head coach Jay Miller's 221st with the Bulldogs, making him the winningest coach in school history.

After a Molly Garst two-run double with two outs put Purdue (3-1) up 3-2 in the top of the seventh, the Bulldogs (4-2) kicked off their final at-bat with a walk to freshman Ka'ili Smith. After moving to second on a sacrifice bunt from fellow rookie Brittany Gates, Bramlett, the ESPN Preseason All-American, lined a triple to the wall in right-center that scored Smith with the tying run.

Sophomore Allie Heon followed with a ground ball to short. Bramlett, one of four Bulldogs with a hit each in the game, raced home and managed to score the winning run as she slid past the tag of catcher Jenna Alexander.

“I thought we didn't have some good at-bats tonight. Ali (Bainbridge) hit a big home run to put us up, but we couldn't put them away with the bases loaded the next inning,” Miller said.

“Kelsey and Lindsey pitched well except for a couple of pitches that got away and made us have to scramble from behind. We showed a lot of heart coming back because we could have packed it in after they scored those two runs in the top of the seventh,” Miller added. “Ka'ili, Brittany, Chelsea and Allie all came up big for us in the seventh. It was a great win over a very good team, and I am proud of the way we fought out there.”

The victory improved State's seventh-year head coach to 221-166 in Starkville, moving him past former Bulldog head coach Kathy Arendsen (1997-2002) for sole possession of the record. In his 27th season as a collegiate head coach, Miller now stands at 930-581 overall.

Freshman Lindsey Dunlap picked up the win in relief to move to 2-0 on the year. The Hueytown, Ala., native allowed the two seventh-inning runs on two hits over 2 1/3 innings. State starter Kelsey Nurnberg turned in a stellar effort in the circle, giving up an unearned run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

State staked the senior from Ankeny, Iowa, to an early 2-0 lead as sophomore Ali Bainbridge hit her first home run of the season, a one-out, two-run blast over the wall in left that scored Heon after she drew a walk.

State had another opportunity in the second, but the Alcocer and the Boilermakers managed to thwart the opportunity. Brittany Bell and Jessie Bailey were both hit by a pitch. Smith loaded the bases as she dropped a ball in front of the plate and reached when no Boilermaker covered first. Purdue, however, got a line-out double play and a ground-out to end the threat.

Alcocer fell to 1-1 on the year as she allowed the four runs on four this with five strikeouts in the complete-game effort.

Purdue got on the scoreboard in the fifth, cutting State's lead to a run as Horiuchi doubled, took third on a Bulldog fielding error and scored on Ashley Barr's two-out single that went just past the out-stretched glove of first baseman Sammie Jo Bailey.

The Bulldogs return to action at the Sunshine Classic with a pair of games on Saturday. State opens the day against Miami of Ohio at 11:15 a.m. CST before challenging Appalachian State at 3:45 p.m. CST at JoAnne Graf Field.