Sunday, March 14
Fresno, Calif.
11:00 AM
Mississippi State
16-10
6
vs
13
CSU Northridge
11-13
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
CSU Northridge
3
2
0
3
0
3
2
13
11
0
Mississippi State
0
0
1
2
1
2
0
6
9
1
Smith Earns All-Tournament Honors as Bulldogs Drop Pair on Sunday
March 14, 2010 | Softball
• Official Statistics (vs. Cal State Northridge)
• Official Statistics (vs. Cal State Northridge) (PDF)
• Official Statistics (vs. Fresno State)
• Official Statistics (vs. Fresno State) (PDF)
The pair of losses dropped the Dawgs to 16-11 on the year.
Smith, who received all-tournament honors, went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs in the opener, hitting her third home run of the tournament and seventh of the season. Bell added her third home run of the campaign in a three-hit effort against Cal State Northridge. The Brandon, Fla., native also collected a hit and drove in a run in the day's final game.
Bramlett, who had her hit streak ended at a career-long 23 games, stole three bases on the afternoon to pass Iyhia McMichael for the most consecutive stolen bases in school history.
Despite the offensive explosion from Smith, Bell and their Bulldog teammates, State was unable to overcome a strong start by Cal State Northridge in Sunday's opening game.
State found itself in an early deficit following the opening inning. Jennifer Mosier led the game off with a base hit up the middle. After moving to third on a pair of ground-outs, she scored when clean-up hitter Jaci Carlsen doubled to the fence in left field.
Following a 26-minute delay caused by the sprinklers coming on in right field, Christina Saenz lined a shot off State starter Misty Flesher that put runners at first and third. Tracy Allen then cleared the bases as she lined a double to the gap in right-center, putting the Matadors up 3-0.
Cal State Northridge (11-13) extended the lead to 5-0 in the second as Jennifer Mosier hit a one-out, two-run home run to center field off Bulldog reliever Stephanie Becker.
Flesher suffered the loss to fall to 6-4 on the year. The Lone Grove, Okla., native allowed eight runs on seven hits while striking out one and walking four over 4.0 innings. Becker went the middle three innings between Flesher appearances, allowing five runs and four hits with three strikeouts and three walks.
State worked out of a jam in the top of the third. Allen hit a two-out double and took third on an MSU fielding error. Becker, however, got Mikayla Thiegles to line-out to end the threat.
Mississippi State cut into the lead with a run in the bottom of the third. Jessica Cooley walked to open the frame, and Courtney Nesbit moved her to second with a base hit to center field. Bramlett reached on a fielder's choice that put Nesbit out at second and moved Cooley to third.
Jessie Spain put State on the scoreboard as she lifted a sacrifice fly to left that scored Cooley to make it a 5-1 game.
The Matadors, however, pushed the lead to 8-1 as Carlsen hit a three-run home run to left field.
Mississippi State cut the deficit to 8-2 in the bottom of the fourth as Smith took the second pitch she saw over the fence in center field for her third home run of the weekend and team-leading seventh of the season. Jessie Bailey followed with a double down the right-field line and took third on a wild pitch that chased CSUN starter Mia Pagano.
Ali Bainbridge drew a walk to put runners at first and third, and freshman Erin Nesbit cut the game to 8-3 as she blooped an RBI single to center field that scored Bailey. Bainbridge and Nesbit took third and second, respectively, on a wild pitch from Cal State Northridge reliever Hannah Fraijo, but neither of them was able to score as a strikeout and a flyout ended the inning.
Fraijo went four innings, allowing three runs and five hits to improve to 4-4 on the year. Pagano went the first three innings, allowing three runs and four hits with a pair of strikeouts.
After Flesher returned to the circle and shut the Matadors down in the fifth, the Dawgs pulled within four as Brittany Bell lined her third home run of the season over the fence in center field.
Cal State Northridge answered right back in the top of the sixth as Fraijo helped her own cause by lining the first pitch she saw from Flesher over the fence in right-center. The next batter, Mosier, extended the lead to 10-4 as she belted her second home run of the day out left field.
Mississippi State sent eight batters to the plate in a two-run sixth inning that cut the CSUN lead to 11-6. Erin Nesbit and Cooley drew back-to-back walks to open the frame. Courtney Nesbit loaded the bases as she dropped a base hit into shallow center field.
Bramlett, who had her hit streak halted at a school third-most 23 games, drew a walk to score Erin Nesbit. Two batters later, Bell singled to re-load the bases, and Smith brought home a run as she lined a ball off the pitcher Fraijo.
Northridge added two more runs in the top of the seventh on a bases-loaded walk and an RBI groundout.
Against the host Bulldogs, Mississippi State wasted no time jumping out to a quick lead with three runs in the opening inning. Chelsea Bramlett opened the game with a base hit to short. She proceeded to steal second and third, becoming the school record-holder for consecutive stolen bases with 41.
Brittany Bell brought her home with the game's opening run on a single to center field. Bell stole second and took third on a Smith base hit through the left side of the infield. Bell put MSU up 2-0 as she scored on a wild pitch, and Ali Bainbridge chased FSU starter Mackenzie Oakes when she lined a double to center field that plated Smith for the 3-0 advantage.
The lead was short-lived however, as Fresno State struck with eight runs in the bottom half of the frame on RBI base hits from Courtney Moore, Lisamarie Coronado and Rebecca Walker. Walker's single brought Becker into the circle in place of starter Kylie Vry. The first batter Becker faced, Brooke Phipps, drew a bases-loaded walk and Haley Gilleland was hit by a pitch to score another. Andrea Ortega plated the final two runs with an RBI single.
“We didn't get any pitching today. I thought we did a good job of putting some runs on the scoreboard, but we weren't able to hold the other team down in either game,” MSU head coach Jay Miller said. “I thought we did a nice job getting some back-to-back hits against Fresno State, but when they changed pitchers we were never able to make the adjustments at the plate.”
Vry fell to 5-4 on the year as she allowed seven runs on four hits over 0.1 innings. Becker went the final 3.2 innings, giving up four runs, three earned, on six hits with three strikeouts.
Michelle Moses picked up her first win of the season as she held the Dawgs to one hit while striking out eight over the final 4.1 innings. Oakes, who pitched a perfect game Saturday night, lasted just 0.2 innings in the start after being struck for three runs on four hits.
Fresno State plated its ninth run of the game in the second. An error by Becker put Caitlin Stiglich on base, and she took second on a Coronado base hit. The pair advanced into scoring position on a ground-out, and Stiglich scored on a wild pitch. Becker got a pair of strikeouts to prevent any further damage.
The home-standing Bulldogs put the lead-off runner in scoring position again in the bottom of the third inning, but Becker got Stiglich to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Fresno State plated its final two runs in the fourth. A Coronado double started the frame. Gilleland walked and Ortega singled to plate the pair of runs.
Mississippi State returns to action on Wednesday, traveling to Hattiesburg for a 5 p.m. first pitch against Southern Mississippi.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hannah Fraijo (4-4)
L: Flesher, Misty (6-4)
Batting:
2B: Jaci Carlsen 1 ; Tracy Allen 2
HR: Jennifer Mosier 2 ; Jaci Carlsen 1 ; Hannah Fraijo 1
RBI: Jennifer Mosier 3 ; Karla Chaparro 1 ; Alexandria Alvarado 1 ; Jaci Carlsen 4 ; Erin Harris 1 ; Tracy Allen 2 ; Hannah Fraijo 1
SH: Jaci Carlsen 1 ; Mikayla Thielges 1
SF: Erin Harris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jennifer Mosier 4 ; Karla Chaparro 1 ; Alexandria Alvarado 1 ; Jaci Carlsen 2 ; Christina Saenz 1 ; Kristen Mihm 1 ; Jaclyn Rymer 1 ; Hannah Fraijo 2
SB: Jennifer Mosier 1
Batting:
2B: Bell, Brittany 1 ; Bailey, Jessie 1
HR: Bell, Brittany 1 ; Smith, Ka'ili 1
RBI: Bramlett, Chelsea 1 ; Spain, Jessie 1 ; Bell, Brittany 1 ; Smith, Ka'ili 2 ; Nesbit, Erin 1
SF: Spain, Jessie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bell, Brittany 1 ; Smith, Ka'ili 1 ; Bailey, Jessie 1 ; Nesbit, Erin 1 ; Cooley, Jessica 1 ; Nesbit, Courtney 1
SB: Bramlett, Chelsea 1
Game Leaders
rf/cf
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
2B
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
INF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF/OF
/ Softball1B/OF
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballOF/C
/ Softball
INF/OF
/ Softball
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