Softball Bulldogs Take Rubber Game, Series From South Carolina With 10-2 Win

Sunday, April 19

Starkville

2:00 PM

Mississippi State

23-22, 5-15

South Carolina

19-19, 5-16

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
South Carolina	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	5	2
Mississippi State	1	0	1	3	0	5	10	13	0

MSU Softball's Sammie Jo Bailey Named To SEC Community Service Team

Softball Bulldogs Take Rubber Game, Series From South Carolina With 10-2 Win

April 19, 2009 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics
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STARKVILLE, Miss. ? The bottom third of the Mississippi State batting order went 7-for-9 Sunday afternoon to lead the Bulldog softball team to a 10-2, six-inning win over South Carolina in the rubber-game of a three-game Southeastern Conference series at the MSU Softball Field.

Jessie Spain, Courtney Nesbit and Brittany Gates ? the seventh, eighth and ninth hitters in the Bulldog line-up ? each collected a pair of hits in the game that was delayed an hour and 20 minutes by heavy rain showers that hit campus prior to first pitch. Laurie Siebert, pinch-hitting for Gates, added a run-scoring single.

Spain added a pair of RBI and scored twice in the series-clinching win. Gates drove in a run and scored two more while Nesbit added another run scored.

“After leaving a lot of runners on in the second game on Saturday, coming back and scoring 10 runs today was a big step for our ball club. When you get that kind of production from the bottom third of the line-up, you can win a lot of games,” MState head coach Jay Miller said. “Jessie Spain, Courtney Nesbit and Brittany Gates gave us a tremendous boost offensively, and Lindsey (Dunlap) pitched another outstanding ball game. This was a big win for us as far as staying in the race for the SEC and NCAA tournaments.”

Dunlap went the distance in all three games, improving to 14-13 as she limited USC to a pair of runs on five hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Dunlap, who picked up the win in the series-opener, threw 254 pitches over the 20 innings.

Senior Sammie Jo Bailey helped her freshman hurler at the plate, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Junior Chelsea Bramlett also had a big day with the bat, adding two of MSU's 13 hits and driving in two runs while scoring two more.

The Bulldogs (23-22, 5-15 SEC) took a lead they would never relinquish as they plated a run in the bottom of the first. Bramlett led off with a bunt single to third base, and she took second as the throw sailed wide. After moving to third on a Brittany Bell sacrifice bunt, Sammie Jo Bailey brought her home two batters later on a two-out single that deflected off USC second baseman Evan Childs' glove into right field.

The Maroon and White, who have won 12 of the last 14 meetings against South Carolina, extended the lead to 2-0 in the third as Gates lined a base hit to right field that chased Gamecock starter Audrey Broyles. Gates stole second, one of her two stolen bases in the game, and after taking third on a Bramlett ground-out to second she used her speed to beat the throw home on a Bell ground ball to short.

Broyles dropped her second decision of the weekend to fall to 10-9 on the year. One of five pitchers in the game for USC (19-19, 5-16 SEC), Broyles allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits in two innings of work. Kierstyn White, Saturday's game-two winner, allowed three runs in 1 1/3 innings while Ashley Chastain surrendered a pair of hits over one-third of an inning. Krystle Robinson and Kelsey Goodwin combined to allow five runs on six hits over the final inning and one-third.

The Gamecocks cut the lead to 2-1 with a Jill Semento one-out double in the fourth, but the State bats tacked on three more runs in the home half of the inning to give Dunlap the cushion she would need.

Sammie Jo Bailey led off the three-run fourth with a base hit through the left side of the infield. Ali Bainbridge was then hit by a pitch. After Jessie Bailey moved the pair into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, Spain pushed the lead to 4-1 as she bounced a bases-clearing single up the middle.

Nesbit lined a base hit off Robinson to move Spain to third. Spain extended the lead to 5-1 as she scored on a Siebert base hit to center field.

The Gamecocks cut the deficit to 5-2 with a Laura Mendes RBI single in the fifth, but the Bulldogs answered with a five-run sixth.

Spain and Nesbit led off the inning with base hits. Spain scored on a Gates single up the middle, and following a wild pitch Bramlett made it an 8-2 game as she grounded a two-run single through the left side of the infield.

The two-run base hit brought Goodwin to the circle for USC, and she hit Bell, the first batter she faced, with a pitch. After getting a ground-out from freshman Ka'ili Smith, Goodwin gave up an RBI single to Sammie Jo Bailey that scored Bramlett with MSU's ninth run of the game. Bainbridge delivered the final blow as her base hit to left scored Bell to end the game.

The Bulldogs close out the five-game home stretch Wednesday, hosting Auburn in a key SEC Western Division doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. Admission to all MSU home softball games is free, and the twin bill will be broadcast live on WMSV 91.1 FM and online at http://www.wmsv.msstate.edu/.