Bulldog Softball Take Series At No. 9 Tennessee With 10-6 Win Sunday

Sunday, March 29

Knoxville, Tenn.

12:00 PM

Mississippi State

17-16, 2-10

#9 Tennessee

26-8, 5-4

Mississippi State

Tennessee

Bulldog Softball Take Series At No. 9 Tennessee With 10-6 Win Sunday

March 29, 2009 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ? Ali Bainbridge's three-run home run in the top of the sixth capped a 3-for-4, four-RBI day as Mississippi State upset No. 9 Tennessee 10-6 Sunday afternoon and clinched the rubber game of the series on a cold, rainy afternoon at Lee Stadium in Knoxville.

Bainbridge was one of the three Bulldogs with three hits on the day, joining sophomore Brittany Bell and senior Sammie Jo Bailey in pacing State's 14-hit attack which is the most for the Bulldogs in a league game since a 15-hit effort against Georgia on April 22, 2007.

Mississippi State (17-16, 2-10 SEC), who has now won three of its last five games against Tennessee, claimed an out-right series victory over the Lady Vols for the first time since 2001. It was also the Bulldogs' first series win over a top-10 team since the 2004 team defeated No. 10 Alabama twice.

State trailed UT (26-8, 4-5 SEC) 6-4 in a back-and-forth game entering the five-run sixth. With one out in the inning, Chelsea Bramlett, who extended her hit streak to nine games, walked. She moved to second on a Bell base hit down the line in left. Freshman Ka'ili Smith followed with a single to left, and Lillian Hammond misplayed the ball in the outfield to allow Bramlett score and cut lead to 6-5.

Bailey scored Bell with the tying run as she lined a base hit to left that brought Danielle Pieroni back into the circle for UT. Bainbridge, the first hitter she faced, capped the inning with her fourth home run of the season, a three-run shot to center on a 1-2 offering.

Freshman Lindsey Dunlap retired six of the last seven hitters she faced to pick up her second win of the weekend and improve to 9-9 on the season. The Hueytown, Ala., freshman threw 153 pitches in the complete-game effort, giving up six runs (five earned) on 10 hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

“We did a really nice job battling back today. Ali came up with a big home run, but the entire line-up stepped up and contributed offensively,” MState head coach Jay Miller said. “Lindsey shut them out the final two innings, and our ball club took a big step today. We needed something to get us going, and hopefully this weekend will pick us up a little bit.”

Cat Hosfield (18-7) suffered her second setback of the weekend as she pitched 3 2/3 innings over two different stints, giving up seven runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Pieroni gave up two runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings, while Ashton Ward allowed an unearned run on a hit with two strikeouts in her lone inning of work.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Bell walked and Bailey hit a two-out single to right. Bainbridge put State on top as she drove in Bell with a base hit to left.

The Lady Vols answered with the tying run in the home half of the opening frame as Hammond tripled and scored on a Tiffany Huff bunt. UT then took a 3-1 lead in the second on an Erin Webb RBI triple and an error on a Pieroni ground ball.

State cut the lead to 3-2 with a run in the third inning. Bell and Smith led off with back-to-back singles. Bailey walked to load the bases, but Bainbridge lined into a double play that put Bell out at third. Jessie Bailey followed with a clutch single to left, and Smith was awarded home as she collided with UT third baseman Jessica Spigner while rounding third.

Tennessee pushed the lead to 4-2 on a Shelby Burchell run-scoring single in the third, but the Bulldogs responded in the fourth on freshman Courtney Moore's lead-off home run, her third of the season, that cut the deficit to a single run at 4-3.

Dunlap got a strike-out and a fly-out to thwart a Nicole Kajitani one-out triple in the bottom of the fourth, and State answered by scoring the tying run in the top half of the fifth. Sammie Jo Bailey and Bainbridge kicked the inning off with consecutive singles, and after Jessie Bailey advanced the pair with a sacrifice bunt, sophomore Jessie Spain hit a ground ball to second that brought home Bailey.

UT broke the tie in the bottom of the fifth, taking a 6-4 advantage on Erin Webb's two-run home run to left-center. But just as they did in the series opener, the Bulldogs fought back and took the lead with the five-run sixth before adding their final run in the top of the seventh.

With one out in the inning, Bramlett lined a single through the left side of the infield off Ward, who was making her first appearance of the weekend. Bramlett stole second, and with two outs, Smith hit a ground ball to second that appeared to end the inning. Webb, however, mishandled the ball, allowing Smith to reach and Bramlett to come home with the game's final run.

State ventures to Madison on Wednesday to meet Ole Miss in the M&F Bank Fastpitch Classic at Liberty Park. The non-conference meeting is set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch and will be broadcast on WMSV 91.1 FM and online at www.wmsv.msstate.edu.