Bulldog Softball Closes Regular Season With Sweep Of Mississippi Valley State

Friday, May 8

Starkville

3:00 PM

Mississippi State

27-26

Mississippi Valley State (DH-1)

37-13

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Miss. Valley St.	2	0	0	0	0	2	3	3
Mississippi State	0	5	4	1	X	10	10	0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Miss. Valley St.	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	7	1
Mississippi State	0	0	0	2	0	2	X	4	8	0

Bell's Hit Rallies MSU Softball to 4-3 Win, Bulldog Classic Championship

Bulldog Softball Closes Regular Season With Sweep Of Mississippi Valley State

May 08, 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. ? Junior Chelsea Bramlett went 3-for-6 at the plate, drove in three runs and scored three times as the Mississippi State softball team swept a doubleheader with Mississippi Valley State Friday afternoon to close the 2009 regular season. State won the opening game 10-2 in five innings before taking a 4-1 decision in the nightcap.

Head coach Jay Miller's MSU squad improved to 28-26 overall with the pair of wins. State will learn if it's headed to an eighth NCAA Regional Sunday evening when the selections are announced at 9 p.m. CDT on ESPNU.

Bramlett, who was named All-SEC First Team catcher on Wednesday, and sophomore Brittany Bell sparked the Bulldog offense in the opener, driving in three runs each.

After Valley (37-14) struck for two first-inning runs off MSU starter Lindsey Dunlap, the Bulldog offense took control of the game by plating five runs with two outs in the bottom of the second.

Sophomore Courtney Nesbit sparked the two-out rally with a single to center field. She moved to third on a double by freshman Brittany Gates. Bramlett then bounced a single to second base that scored Nesbit. Gates came home as Angelica Wade made an unsuccessful diving effort for the putout at first base.

Bell then stepped to the plate and cleared the bases as she blasted an 0-2 offering from MVSU starter Lauren Derting (7-3) over the left-field wall. Freshman Ka'ili Smith, who collected two hits and drove in three runs on the afternoon, added the fifth run of the inning as she walked, stole second and came home on Sammie Jo Bailey's double to the gap in left-center.

The Bulldogs continued the offensive surge in the third inning, plating four more runs for a 9-2 advantage. Jessie Bailey led-off the inning with a walk. Two batters later, Nesbit capped her 2-for-3 outing with a single through the left side of the infield.

Gates loaded the bases with a bunt single, and Bramlett drew a bases-loaded walk off Valley reliever Brittany Franklin to push the lead to 6-2. Bell brought home Nesbit with a sacrifice fly to center field, and Gates made it an 8-2 game as she stole third and scored when the throw from catcher Megan Hays sailed into left field. Smith punctuated the inning with an RBI single to third that scored Bramlett.

State added its final run of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Sophomore Ali Bainbridge lined a lead-off single to left and took second on a Jessie Bailey ground-out before coming home on Jessie Spain's base hit to left.

Following the two-run first inning, Dunlap held the Delta Devilettes to just a walk over the final four innings to improve to 17-14 overall.

“We got good pitching from both Kelsey and Lindsey today. I was worried after the first inning of the opening game, but Lindsey settled down and threw great after that,” Miller said. “I was pleased with the way we hit the ball through the line-up. We left some runners on base, but Courtney Nesbit, Laurie Siebert and Ka'ili Smith each came up with some big hits. We did what we needed to do, and hopefully it will help our cause in securing an NCAA Tournament bid Sunday night.”

Dunlap followed her opening-game outing with two innings of hitless relief in game two that earned her fourth save of the season.

State's Kelsey Nurnberg and MVSU's Lisa Jansen kept both teams scoreless until the fourth when the Bulldogs struck for a pair of runs that would prove to be the game-winners.

With two outs in the inning, Spain lined a base hit through the left side of the infield and scored the game's opening run on a Nesbit double. Pinch-hitter Laurie Siebert then stepped to the plate and took a 1-1 offering straight up the middle to score Nesbit and put MSU up 2-0.

Valley added a run in the fifth and put the tying run on with no outs in the sixth. Dunlap, however, shut the door on any possible Delta Devilette rally, striking out three and allowing just a walk the rest of the way.

State pushed across a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth for the final 4-1 margin. Gates struck out and reached on a wild pitch to open the inning. Bramlett then singled to second base, one of her two hits in the game.

Bell moved the pair into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, and Smith cleared the bases with a double to left-center.

Nurnberg picked up her second straight win to move to 10-10 overall. The Ankeny, Iowa, native, playing in her final home game, allowed the lone MVSU run on seven hits with five strikeouts over five innings. Jansen, her counterpart in the circle, fell to 14-7 as she gave up four runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and four walks in the complete-game effort.

The Bulldogs will see if their name is called for an NCAA Regional Sunday night when the selections are announced live at 9 p.m. CDT on ESPNU.