Mississippi State
6-1
Oregon State
3-5
MSU Softball Splits with Oregon State, Texas A&M
February 20, 2010 | Softball
• Official Statistics (vs. Oregon State)
• Official Statistics (vs. Oregon State) (PDF)
• Official Statistics (vs. Texas A&M)
• Official Statistics (vs. Texas A&M) (PDF)
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Courtney Nesbit went 4-for-4 and drove in three runs, and Ka'ili Smith collected four hits and five RBI as Mississippi State rolled to a 13-3 win over Oregon State Saturday morning at the Aggie Classic in College Station, Texas.
Junior Jessie Spain collected two of her five hits on the afternoon and drove in a run while scoring another as the Bulldogs (6-2) dropped a 13-4 decision to 21st-ranked Texas A&M (8-1) in the nightcap. Spain drove in a run and scored twice against the Aggies after going 3-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored against Oregon State.
“It was a tale of two games. We did a good job offensively against Oregon State, and I thought our pitchers did well also,” Bulldog head coach Jay Miller said. “It seemed like no one showed up for the second game. They scored some runs on us early, but I thought we did a nice job battling back until that eight-run inning. We have to regroup and come out strong tomorrow and close the weekend on a positive note.”
The Bulldogs, who pounded out a season-high 15 hits Saturday morning, outscored the Beavers (3-5) 11-1 over the final four innings to break a 2-2 tie.
After missing out on a scoring opportunity in the second, State sent seven batters to the plate in the top of the third and manufactured a pair of runs.
Nesbit led off the frame with a single and took second on an Allie Heon ground-out. Chelsea Bramlett followed with a base hit, and she was able to advance to second when the Beavers left the base unattended. Nesbit broke the scoreless tie as she beat the throw home on a Spain ground ball to the shortstop.
Spain drew a throw while trying to take second, and Bramlett raced home to extend the MSU advantage to 2-0.
The Beavers answered right back, tying the game with a pair of runs in the home half of the third. Dani Chisolm led off with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and took third on an Ashley Sanchez ground-out.
McKenna Lowe was hit by a pitch, and two batters later, Audrey Roderfeld hit a two-out, bases-clearing double to the wall in center that knotted the game at 2-2.
State, however, regained the lead for good with a run in the fourth. Jessie Bailey lined a lead-off double to the wall in right field. She took third on an Erin Nesbit sacrifice bunt, and Courtney Nesbit brought her home with a one-out base hit up the middle.
That run would be all freshman Kylie Vry would need to pick up the win and improve to 2-0 on the year. The Des Moines, Iowa, freshman hurled four innings, allowing the two runs on four hits with three strikeouts. Sophomore Misty Flesher hurled the final three frames, giving up a run on three hits to pick up her first save of the season.
The Dawgs' bats weren't done though, as State added sent nine batters to the plate in a three-run fifth. Spain concluded a 12-pitch at-bat with a lead-off single up the middle. A walk to Bell and a base hit by Smith loaded the bases for Bainbridge, who delivered an RBI single that scored Spain.
Three batters later, Courtney Nesbit delivered a two-run single up the middle that scored Bell and Smith and extended the State lead to 6-2.
State tacked on another run in the top of the sixth. Spain singled to put the lead-off runner on for the fourth-straight inning. She took second on a wild pitch and scored two batters later on a Smith single.
Mississippi State's bats remained hot in the seventh, scoring six runs as 10 batters came to the plate. Courtney Nesbit capped her perfect outing with a one-out double. Brittany Gates followed with a bloop single into shallow right field. Bramlett walked to load the bases and Spain plated Nesbit with a single that pushed the Bulldog lead to 8-2.
Smith capped the six-run frame as she launched her second home run of the season, a line drive grand slam over the left-field wall.
Hall took the loss for OSU to fall to 3-5 on the season. She allowed three runs and five hits while striking out seven over 4.2 innings. Kelly Dyer surrendered four runs over 1.1 innings, while Karmen Holladay was touched for six runs and four hits over an inning of work.
In the Saturday's second game, the Aggies struck with three runs in the first inning on consecutive one-out home runs by Kelsey Spittler, Meagan May and Rhiannon Kliesing.
Mississippi State cut into the 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Spain blasted a one-out home run, her first of the season, over the wall in left field.
The Aggies pushed the lead out to 5-1 in the top of the third as Kliesing helped her own cause by hitting her second home run of the day, a two-run shot out left-center field.
The Dawgs fought back, however, cutting the lead to 5-4 with a three-run bottom of the third. Erin Nesbit sparked the frame as she lined her second home run of the season over the wall in left field. Bramlett reached on a one-out bunt single and moved to third on a Spain double.
Junior Brittany Bell followed and delivered a sharply-hit double past the TAMU third baseman that scored Bramlett and Spain and cut the deficit to a single run.
The Aggies, however, used an eight-run fourth inning to take the final 13-4 advantage. Melissa Dumezich hit two home runs in the frame while May and Kliesing each added RBI doubles.
Kliesing earned the win to improve to 5-0 on the season. She went the full five innings, giving up four runs on five hits while striking out eight.
Bulldog sophomore Lindsey Dunlap fell to 2-1 with the loss. One of four State pitchers on the afternoon, Dunlap allowed five runs and struck out four over three innings. Stephanie Becker was touched for a pair of runs in a third of an inning, and Vry allowed four runs on two hits. Misty Flesher finished the game for Mississippi State, allowing a pair of runs on three hits over 1.2 innings.
MSU closes out the tournament on Sunday, facing Oregon State at 10 a.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Vry, Kylie (2-0)
L: Hall, Paige (3-5)
S: Flesher, Misty (1)
Batting:
2B: Bailey, Jessie 1 ; Nesbit, Courtney 1
HR: Smith, Ka'ili 1
RBI: Spain, Jessie 3 ; Smith, Ka'ili 5 ; Bainbridge, Ali 1 ; Nesbit, Courtney 3
SH: Nesbit, Erin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bramlett, Chelsea 2 ; Spain, Jessie 3 ; Bell, Brittany 2 ; Smith, Ka'ili 2 ; Bailey, Jessie 1 ; Nesbit, Courtney 2 ; Gates, Brittany 1
SB: Bainbridge, Ali 1 ; Gates, Brittany 1
HBP: Bell, Brittany 1 ; Rovtar, Chrissie 1
Batting:
2B: Roderfeld, Audrey 1 ; Chisholm, Dani 1
RBI: Kutz, Allison 1 ; Roderfeld, Audrey 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Lowe, McKenna 1 ; Chisholm, Dani 2
HBP: Lowe, McKenna 1
