Bulldog Softball Hosts South Carolina In Super Bulldog Weekend Series
April 17, 2009 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Fresh off an upset of sixth-ranked Georgia on Wednesday, the Mississippi State softball team returns to the MSU Softball Field to host South Carolina in a three-game Southeastern Conference series as part of Super Bulldog Weekend presented by Regions Bank. The two teams open the series with an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Saturday before closing the set with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.
Admission to all MSU home softball games is free, and the games will be broadcast live on WMSV 91.1 FM and online at www.wmsv.msstate.edu. Bulldog Club members can have their Dog Tags scanned beginning 30 minutes prior to the start of each game through the first 15 minutes.
This weekend's series will also be Alumni Day at the MSU Softball Field. The Bulldogs will recognize alumni in attendance prior to Saturday's second game.
State brings a 21-21 overall record and 3-14 SEC ledger into the weekend set. The Bulldogs split a mid-week twin bill in Athens, snapping UGA's 22-game home win streak with a 3-1, 10-inning victory in the nightcap. South Carolina makes the trip to Starkville sitting at 18-17 overall. The Gamecocks claimed a series win over No. 4 Alabama last weekend to improve to 4-14 in the SEC.
South Carolina leads the overall series 21-18, but the Bulldogs have dominated the series lately, winning 10 of the past 11 meetings including series sweeps the last two years.
Junior Chelsea Bramlett continues to pace the Bulldogs and the Southeastern Conference with a .478 batting average. Bramlett, who was invited to this summer's USA National Team Selection Camp, added three hits and scored the game-winning run in Wednesday's win over Georgia.
The Cordova, Tenn., native also added a stolen base in Wednesday's second game to improve her SEC-leading total to 43 in 48 attempts, a mark which sits just three behind the single-season record she set as a freshman (2007) and matched last season. Bramlett leads the Bulldogs with 40 runs scored, and she has added five doubles, two triples and nine RBI.
Freshman Ka'ili Smith drove in Bramlett with her sacrifice fly in the 10th inning. The Kapolei, Hawaii, native has been stellar at the plate during her rookie season, tying sophomore Ali Bainbridge for the second-highest average on the squad (.336). Smith has contributed a team-high nine doubles, four triples, 24 RBI and 17 runs scored.
Bainbridge, who has hit seven doubles and a pair of triples this season, continues to lead the team with 28 RBI while tying junior Jessie Bailey for the team home run lead with four.
Bailey, a Lithonia, Ga., native, enjoyed a stellar effort against her home state school, going 3-for-5 with a double. Her sister Sammie Jo collected a pair of hits against UGA, including a double in the 10th that added the Bulldogs' final run of the game.
Freshman Lindsey Dunlap was stellar in the circle against Georgia. The Hueytown, Ala., native tossed her 13th complete game of the season, holding the sixth-ranked Bulldogs to three hits the final nine innings after surrendering a first-inning unearned run.
The win improved Dunlap to 12-12 on the season. She has allowed 75 runs (69 earned) for a 3.10 ERA and has struck-out a team-best 125 over 156 innings. The Bulldogs will also look to senior Kelsey Nurnberg in the circle. The Ankeny, Iowa, native sits at 9-7 on the year and has surrendered 77 runs (55 earned) with 66 strikeouts over 95 innings.
South Carolina will look to another solid effort from reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week Audrey Broyles. Broyles picked up a win and a save over Alabama last week in improving to 10-7 overall with two saves. Broyles has allowed 43 earned runs this year for a 2.49 ERA. She has struck-out 121 while walking 28.
State will also likely face Kierstyn White in the circle this weekend. White, who boasts a 7-2 mark this season, has a 2.73 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings this season.
The Gamecocks visit Starkville hitting .223 as a team. Ashton Payne leads USC at the plate, hitting .304 with three doubles, two triples and four RBI. Jill Semento, a .282 hitter, has driven in a team-leading 17runs while hitting two of the team's nine home runs this season.
