MState Softball Closes Pre-Conference Slate With 3-1 Setback To Radford

Sunday, March 8

Honolulu, Hawaii

3:00 PM

Mississippi State

14-6

Radford

7-3

Mississippi State

Radford

MSU's Ka'ili Smith Named SEC Freshman Of The Week

MState Softball Closes Pre-Conference Slate With 3-1 Setback To Radford

March 08, 2009 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)

HONOLULU, Hawaii. ? Mississippi State freshman and Kapolei, Hawaii, native Ka'ili Smith collected one of five hits and drove in the Bulldogs' lone run of the afternoon in a 3-1 setback to Radford Sunday afternoon in its final game at the Pepsi Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament in Honolulu.

The Bulldogs wrapped up the final weekend of the pre-conference slate with a 3-3 mark to move to 14-6 overall. Radford improved to 7-3 on the year.

Chelsea Bramlett, Jessie Bailey, Courtney Moore and Courtney Nesbit also collected a hit each for the Bulldogs. Bramlett, who hit .565 with three doubles, two RBI and seven stolen bases for the tournament, has now hit safely in 13 straight games, two short of matching her career high.

In her first collegiate action in her home state, Smith's base hit on Sunday capped a .500 (8-for-16) weekend in which she hit four doubles and drove in four runs while scoring three times.

The Highlanders jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Kristen Shifflett hit a two-run home run. RU added another run in the second when Jenn Everhart reached on an error and scored three batters later on Leigh Godfrey's two-out single.

“It was a struggle out there for us today,” MState head coach Jay Miller said. “We fell behind early, and I thought that Lindsey (Dunlap) did a nice job of giving us a chance. We didn't make adjustments at the plate. We dug ourselves a hole, and I kept thinking that the bats would wake up and we'd score some runs but we didn't. We have a lot of work to do to get ready to open SEC play against a very good Alabama team.”

Senior Kelsey Nurnberg surrendered all three runs, two earned, with a strikeout in one and two-thirds innings to fall to 8-2 on the year. Dunlap held the Highlanders to just three hits and struck out two over the final four and two-thirds.

The Bulldogs scored their lone run in the top half of the third. Bailey sparked the inning with a one-out double off the wall in left field. Nesbit moved her to third with a base hit, and Smith put State on the scoreboard with a single that dropped in front of the RU centerfielder.

Kellie Snooks kept MState off the scoreboard as she struck out three over a perfect final four and one-thirds innings to move to 5-0 on the campaign. Chelsea Kelley went the first two and two-thirds innings, surrendering the lone MSU run on five hits with a strikeout and a walk.

Mississippi State returns to action next Saturday, opening the Southeastern Conference portion of its schedule against top-ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide open the three-game set with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday. The series concludes on Sunday in a single game set for a 1:30 p.m. first pitch.