MSU Softball Falls 10-4 to No. 19 Tennessee in Series Finale

Wednesday, March 10

Starkville

4:00 PM

Mississippi State

14-8, 1-2

#19 Tennessee

15-5, 2-1

Tennessee

Mississippi State

Bramlett Named SEC Softball Player of the Week

MSU Softball Falls 10-4 to No. 19 Tennessee in Series Finale

March 10, 2010 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

• Official Statistics
• Official Statistics (PDF)

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State's Chelsea Bramlett and Courtney Nesbit collected two hits each as the Bulldog softball team fell 10-4 to No. 19 Tennessee Wednesday afternoon in the rubber game of a three-game Southeastern Conference series at the MSU Softball Field.

State fell to 14-8 overall, 1-2 in SEC play with the loss. The Lady Vols improved to 15-5, 2-1 in league play with the series win.

Bramlett's two-hit effort extended her hit streak to a career-long 19 games. She also scored twice and stole two bases in the game, giving her 22-straight stolen bases to open the year and a school third-most 30 going back to last season.

MSU freshman Stephanie Becker was outstanding in the circle over the final four innings, holding Tennessee to just three hits. The Bulldogs, however, were unable to overcome a hot start by the Lady Vols.

“We dug ourselves in a hole early. We did not do a good job defensively today, especially in the short game,” MSU head coach Jay Miller said. “I thought Stephanie Becker threw a great game. It was a big step for her and our ball club today.”

Tennessee plated a pair of runs in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead. Raven Chavanne opened the game with a walk, and Kelly Grieve dropped a bunt that found its way past a pair of Bulldogs, allowing Chavanne, who took second on a wild pitch, to score the game's opening run.

Three batters later, Tiffany Huff put UT up 2-0 as she bounced a high-hopping ground ball over the infield that plated Grieve, who paced Tennessee with four hits and four RBI.

The Bulldogs cut the lead to 2-1 with a run of their own in the home half of the first. Bramlett lined a lead-off single to left field. She stole second and eventually came home on a Smith ground ball to first base.

Tennessee, however, responded with five runs in the top of the second inning. Ashley Andrews and Chavanne reached on back-to-back singles. Andrews scored on a Grieve double, and Chavanne put Tennessee up 4-1 as she came home on a Kat Dotson sacrifice fly. Grieve scored the third run of the inning on a Jessica Spigner double. A Tiffany Huff two-bagger scored Spigner, and Huff capped the five-run frame as she came around to score on a wild pitch and an illegal pitch.

MSU had a chance to cut into the lead in the home half of the second, but the Dawgs left the bases loaded. Shelby Fisher reached on a fielder's choice, and Courtney Nesbit followed with a single. Bramlett was intentionally walked to fill the bases, but UT's Ivy Renfroe got a strikeout to end the threat.

“We didn't hit the ball. We had opportunities with runners in scoring position, but we were not able to drive any runs in,” Miller said. “You have to take advantage of those opportunities in SEC play.”

Renfroe improved to 8-1 as she allowed four runs, two earned, on five hits with eight strikeouts in the complete-game effort. State freshman Kylie Vry was saddled with the loss to fall to 4-3 on the year. The Des Moines, Iowa, native went 1.2 innings, giving up six runs and six hits.

Misty Flesher surrendered four runs, three earned, on three hits over 1.1 innings of work before giving way to Becker.

The Lady Vols tacked on three more runs in the third, but the Bulldogs came back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. Brittany Bell, the hero in Tuesday night's 5-4 win, walked to open the frame and took second on a wild pitch. Bell scored when Erin Nesbit's fly ball to left field deflected off the glove of Chavanne. Nesbit raced around second and headed to third on the throw to the plate. Huff tried to throw Nesbit out a third, but the throw sailed wide of the bag to allow Nesbit to score and make it a 10-3 game.

The Bulldogs added their final run of the contest in the bottom of the seventh. Bramlett opened the inning with a base hit. After stealing second, she moved to third on a Heon single. Two batters later, Smith hit a ground ball back to Renfroe that allowed Bramlett to score.

The Bulldogs return to the road this weekend, traveling to Fresno, Calif., for the Bayer Cropscience Classic. State kicks off the weekend on Friday, challenging Colorado State at 6:30 p.m. CT.