STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Freshman Ka'ili Smith and sophomore Jessie Spain drove in a pair of runs each, and freshman pitcher Lindsey Dunlap tossed her second shutout of the season as the Mississippi State softball team opened the 2009 Bulldog Classic with a 6-0 win over Rutgers Friday afternoon at the MSU Softball Field.
Smith, a Kapolei, Hawaii, native, and Spain, a Birmingham native, paced an eight-hit MState attack with two hits apiece. The Bulldogs improved to 7-2 on the year, while the Scarlet Knights fell to 0-1.
Dunlap improved her record to 4-0 in the six-hit blanking. Her four-straight victories to open the season match Misty Flesher's 2008 start for the best ever by a Bulldog freshman. The Hueytown, Ala., native struck out four and walked one over six innings. Sophomore Elizabeth Woolven retired all three batters she faced in a perfect seventh.
After failing to score in the first following an Ali Bainbridge one-out triple, the Bulldogs took the lead for good with two outs in the second. Smith sparked the rally with a triple to center, and she scored as Spain was safe when no Rutgers player covered first on her ground ball to the right side.
Spain moved to third on Brittany Gates' first of two hits on the day, a single to first, and the Bulldogs loaded the bases as Bramlett legged out a single to the pitcher. Bainbridge gave the Bulldogs the 2-0 lead as she drew a bases-loaded walk.
Rutgers put the tying runs aboard in the third on back-to-back lead-off singles, but Dunlap got a strikeout and a pair of fly-outs to preserve the two-run lead. Amanda Shaw and Amanda Heller, the top two hitters in the line-up, each collected two hits to lead the Scarlet Knights.
“We're not swinging the bats like we're capable of. We have to be more patient at the plate. We should have broken it open early, but we did a nice job of putting some runs on the board in the later innings,” MState head coach Jay Miller said. “Lindsey and Elizabeth both did a nice job today. Lindsey got us out of some jams, and we played nice defense behind them.”
The Bulldogs expanded the cushion to five runs with a three-run sixth. Sammie Jo and Jessie Bailey both walked to start the inning. Pinch-runner Allie Heon scored from second on a Smith single to center for a 3-0 lead. The RU centerfielder bobbled the ball, allowing Jessie Bailey to advance to third and Smith to take second.
State went up 4-0 as Jessie Bailey raced home on a Spain squeeze, and the Bulldogs capped the inning with a Bramlett sacrifice fly to center that scored Smith.
The Bulldogs tacked on a final run in the seventh as Sammie Jo Bailey hit a one-out single that moved Courtney Moore, who reached on a fielder's choice, to second. A wild pitch put the runners in scoring position, and Sammie Jo Bailey scored on a Smith sacrifice fly to center.
Nicole Lindley suffered the loss for Rutgers in its season opener, allowing five runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and four walks in five innings. Holly Johnson gave up a run on just one hit with a pair of walks over the final two frames.
The Bulldogs return to action Saturday, facing Evansville at 2 p.m. and SIU-Edwardsville at 4 p.m. Rutgers opens Saturday's action with SIU-Edwardsville at 10 a.m. and Evansville at Noon. Admission to all MState home softball games is free.
