Mississippi State
14-7, 0
#2 Alabama (DH-1)
21-2, 0
Bramlett Matches Career-High Hit Streak As MSU Drops SEC-Opening Series To No. 2 'Bama
March 14, 2009 | Softball
? Official Statistics (Game 1) (PDF)
? Official Statistics (Game 2)
? Official Statistics (Game 2) (PDF)
The Bulldogs fall to 14-8, 0-2 in league play, while the Crimson Tide improve to 22-2, 2-0 in the league.
Lindsey Dunlap suffered the loss in both games, falling to 6-4 on the year. The Hueytown,
Bramlett went 2-for-6 on the day to push her hit streak to 15 games, matching her career high set in 2008.
Kelsi Dunne picked up the win for the Crimson Tide in the opener, moving to 9-0 overall as she scattered the three hits and struck out eight in the complete-game effort.
The Bulldogs had an opportunity to take a first-inning lead as Bramlett walked and Brittany Bell dropped a single into left field. Dunne got a pop-out, strikeout and fly-out to end the threat.
“We gave ourselves some opportunities in the first game, and I thought we competed very well,” MState head coach Jay Miller said. “We battled hard at the plate in the first game, and I thought Lindsey pitched really well for us today.
After Dunlap retired the first two hitters in the home half of the frame, Montalvo took a 3-1 offering and hit a towering shot that sailed over the foul pole in left field.
State had another chance in the second as SEC Freshman of the Week Ka'ili Smith drew a lead-off walk. She moved to second on a Sammie Jo Bailey sacrifice and took third on Courtney Nesbit's base hit to center. MState was unable to capitalize, however, as a strikeout and fly-out ended the inning.
The Bulldogs put the tying run at third again in the fifth as Bramlett led off with a single to center, took second on a sacrifice bunt and went to third on an Ali Bainbridge ground-out to second. A strikeout, however, kept the tying run 60 feet from home.
The Tide broke the game open in the sixth. Brittany Rogers walked and stole second. Jennifer Fenton moved her to third as she beat out a sacrifice bunt attempt. Montalvo, who went 2-for-4 in the two games and drove in three runs while scoring four times, drove in her second run of the day with a base hit through the left side that scored Rogers. Charlotte Morgan capped the scoring as she lined a double off the wall in left-center to bring home Fenton and Montalvo.
In the second game, Morgan held the Bulldogs hitless until the fifth when Smith grounded a single off the third baseman Montalvo's glove.
“I was disappointed with our approach at the plate in the second game,” Miller said. “We looked like a totally different team at the plate in the second game. We didn't make adjustments with the bats.”
State broke through with a run in the sixth as Brittany Gates reached on a fielder's choice following a Bailey single. Bramlett reached on a base hit, and a throwing error by UA first baseman Cassandra Reilly-Boccia moved Gates to third. She scored as Bramlett successfully stole second.
Morgan, who also collected two hits and drove in three runs in the outing, surrendered the sixth-inning run on four hits and struck out a career-high 12 in running her record to 7-2.
The Crimson Tide took the early 1-0 lead as Whitney Larsen hit her sixth home run of the season, a solo blast over the wall in left-center in the second.
UA added two more runs in the fourth as Morgan helped her own cause with a two-run shot. UA capped its scoring with four more runs in the fifth on a Montalvo RBI triple, a Morgan run-scoring base hit and a Larsen two-RBI double.
The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide close out the three-game set on Sunday in a game set for a 1:30 p.m. first pitch.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kelsi Dunne (9-0)
L: Dunlap, Lindsey (6-3)
Batting:
SH: Bell, Brittany 1 ; Bailey, Sammie Jo 1
Base Running:
HBP: Smith, Ka'ili 1
Batting:
2B: Charlotte Morgan 1
HR: Kelley Montalvo 1
RBI: Kelley Montalvo 2 ; Charlotte Morgan 2
SH: Brittany Rogers 1 ; Ashley Holcombe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brittany Rogers 1 ; Jennifer Fenton 1 ; Kelley Montalvo 2
SB: Brittany Rogers 1 ; Jennifer Fenton 1
