Bulldog Softball Travels To No. 2 Alabama For SEC Lidlifter
March 13, 2009 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? The Mississippi State softball team (14-6) opens its 13th Southeastern Conference season this weekend, traveling to Tuscaloosa for a three-game set with No. 2 Alabama (20-2). The series kicks off Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday's finale is set for a 1:30 p.m. first pitch at the Alabama Softball Complex.
This weekend's league debut also opens the Bulldogs' 2009 radio broadcast schedule. All three games will be broadcast live on WMSV 91.1 FM and online at www.wmsv.msstate.edu.
Head coach Jay Miller's Bulldogs enter the weekend following a 3-3 trek to Hawaii a week ago. The Bulldogs were paced in Hawaii by junior Chelsea Bramlett and freshman Ka'ili Smith. Smith, who played her first collegiate games in her home state, earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors after hitting .500 with four doubles and four RBI.
Bramlett enters the SEC slate leading the squad with a .530 average that ranks second in the conference. The Cordova, Tenn., native has contributed three doubles, a triple, six RBI and a team-high 23 runs scored. Bramlett also leads the SEC in stolen bases with 27 in 30 attempts.
Sophomore Ali Bainbridge heads back to her home state hitting an MSU second-best .355. The Vestavia Hills, Ala., native leads the squad with a conference sixth-most 21 RBI. Bainbridge finished the pre-conference slate tied with Smith for the team doubles lead (6) and Jessie Bailey for the home run lead (3).
Alabama prep standout Lindsey Dunlap paces the Bulldogs in the circle. The EA Sports First Team All-American out of Hueytown High School has jumped out to a 6-2 start to her rookie season. Dunlap has compiled a team-leading 1.93 ERA, allowing 19 runs, 17 earned, with a team-high 56 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings.
Senior Kelsey Nurnberg is out to an 8-2 start to her final collegiate campaign. The Ankeny, Iowa, product has surrendered 25 runs, 20 earned, with 40 strikeouts over 48 2/3 innings.
This weekend's series will feature the top two base stealers in the SEC as Alabama's Brittany Rogers follows Bramlett with 17-of-18 steals. Rogers also leads the Crimson Tide with a .491 average. Whitney Larsen (.367) leads UA in home runs with five, while Kelley Montalvo (.340, four home runs) paces Alabama with 20 RBI.
Alabama also counters with one of the league's top pitching staffs. Kelsi Dunne paces the staff with a perfect 8-0 record and a 0.38 earned-run average. She has struck out 80 in 56 innings of work. Charlotte Morgan enters the conference season 6-2 with a 1.92 ERA, while Amanda Locke picked up both victories over Mississippi Valley State on Thursday to move to 6-0 with a 2.00 ERA.
The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide have met 43 times previously, with UA holding a 36-7 advantage in the series.
