Bulldog Pitchers Hurl MState Softball To Sweep Of Jackson State

Thursday, April 9

Starkville

3:00 PM

Mississippi State

19-20

Jackson State

18-18

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Jackson State	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3
Mississippi State	1	6	0	2	X	9	7	1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Jackson State	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Mississippi State	1	0	0	2	0	0	X	3	7	0

Bulldog Pitchers Hurl MState Softball To Sweep Of Jackson State

April 09, 2009 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics (Game 1)
? Official Statistics (Game 1) (PDF)
? Official Statistics (Game 2)
? Official Statistics (Game 2) (PDF)

STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Mississippi State pitchers Kelsey Nurnberg and Lindsey Dunlap tossed a pair of one-hit shutouts as the Bulldog softball team took 9-0 and 3-0 wins over Jackson State Thursday afternoon at the MSU Softball Field.

The pair of games closed out the non-conference slate for MSU and put head coach Jay Miller's squad at 20-20 overall. The Tigers fell to 18-19 on the season.

Dunlap struck out a season-high 11 in the second game of the twin bill as she faced one batter over the minimum. Nurnberg opened the day with eight strikeouts and a walk in the afternoon's opening game which was halted after five innings.

“We got to .500 on the season which is what we set-out to accomplish this week. Hopefully we can get some much-needed rest this weekend before getting into the second half of the SEC schedule,” Miller said. “Lindsey and Kelsey both pitched great for us today. We needed our pitchers to step-up and dominate. It's a good sign heading to Georgia because it gives not only them, but our hitters some confidence.”

Junior Chelsea Bramlett went 3-for-5 on the afternoon and scored four times. Bramlett also stole a pair of bases in the twin bill, pushing her just four shy of her single-season school record (46).

Just as they did in the first game, State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap. Bramlett led off with a bunt-single back to JSU starter Jessica Villegas. Villegas' throw sailed wide, allowing Bramlett to take third. The next batter, sophomore Brittany Bell, brought her home with a sacrifice fly to right.

Villegas, who fell to 5-5 with the loss, kept the State bats off-balance until the fourth when the Bulldogs added their final two runs of the game. Bainbridge led off with a triple to right-center, but she was thrown out at the plate on a Jessie Bailey fielder's choice.

Jessie Spain pushed the lead to 2-0 as she lined a double to left-center that scored Bailey from first. Spain moved to third on an errant throw to the plate, and she capped the scoring as she came home on a Courtney Nesbit base hit up the middle.

Only one of the runs against Villegas was earned. She also scattered seven hits and struck out two while walking a pair in the losing effort.

State's bats jumped on Jackson State starter Brittanie Talley early in the day's opening game, scoring seven runs over the first two frames.

Talley (7-8) went the full four innings, giving up seven hits and nine runs (four earned) with a strikeout and two walks.

Bramlett also sparked the Bulldog offense in the first inning of game one. The Cordova, Tenn., native led off the game with a single to center field followed by a steal of second. Bell dropped a perfect sacrifice to Tiger first baseman Kenesha Phillips, but as Phillips turned and made the throw to second, Bramlett rounded third and beat the ensuing throw to the plate.

The first-inning run would be all Nurnberg would need, but her offense added extra insurance with a six-run second. With one out in the inning, Jessie Bailey and Spain lined a pair of base hits. A Courtney Moore walk loaded the bases, and pinch-hitter Laurie Siebert drew a walk to score Jessie Bailey and push the lead to 2-0.

Bramlett followed with a ground ball to second, but an errant throw on the put-out attempt at the plate scored Spain and Elizabeth Woolven, who was pinch-running for Moore at second, and extended the lead to 4-0.

Two batters later, freshman Ka'ili Smith lined a two-out, two-run single to center field that scored Bramlett and Gates for a 6-0 advantage. Smith scored the inning's final run when Sammie Jo Bailey's ground ball to third base was thrown wide of the base.

The Bulldogs tacked on the final two runs in the fourth. Gates led off with a base hit, and after stealing second, she scored on a Bramlett double to the gap in left-center. Bramlett came around to score on the play when the throw from center field skipped to the backstop.

Wendi Reed and Alla Williams collected JSU's hits.

The Bulldogs enjoy an open weekend before heading back on the road next Wednesday for a doubleheader against Georgia. The twin bill from Athens gets underway at 4 p.m. CDT and will be broadcast live on WMSV 91.1 FM and online at www.wmsv.msstate.edu.