Mississippi State
17-11
Southern Miss
12-10
Big Fourth Inning Leads MSU Softball To 14-4 Win At Southern Miss
March 17, 2010 | Softball
• Official Statistics
• Official Statistics (PDF)
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Jessie Bailey, Erin Nesbit and Jessie Spain drove in three runs each, and the Mississippi State softball team used an eight-run fourth en route to a 14-4 win over Southern Mississippi Wednesday afternoon in Hattiesburg.
Bailey and Nesbit contributed two hits each, while Spain contributed her second home run of the season, a two-run shot in a four-run seventh inning. Senior all-American Chelsea Bramlett went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in two runs while scoring twice. Bramlett also stole three bases in the game, giving her 36-straight on the season and a school-record 44-consecutive steals going back to 2009.
After throwing out a potential USM run at the plate in the bottom of the first, Mississippi State (17-11) took a lead it would never relinquish with a pair of runs in the top of the second. State put a runner in scoring position when Bailey lined a one-out double to the fence in left field. She moved to second on a Courtney Nesbit base hit, and two batters later, Nesbit's sister, Erin, cleared the bases with a double to center field that staked the Dawgs to a 2-0 lead.
The Bulldogs silenced another Golden Eagle threat in the bottom of the second. Logan James kicked off the frame with a double to left-center, but MSU starter Misty Flesher got a pair of fly-outs and a ground-out to keep USM off the scoreboard.
Flesher went on to toss 5.1 innings in the game, picking up the win to improve to 7-4 overall. The Lone Grove, Okla., native allowed four runs, just two earned, on six hits with one strikeout and no walks. Freshman Kylie Vry hurled a scoreless final 1.2 innings, allowing three hits and issuing one walk.
State fell short in its opportunity to expand the lead in the top of the third. Bramlett led off with her second base hit of the game, a slow roller past USM starter Gabby Luciani. After she swiped second, Jessie Spain was hit by a pitch. A pair of strikeouts and a ground-out, however, prevented the Bulldogs from scoring either runner.
The Golden Eagles (12-10) summoned Lana Vaughn into the circle for the top of the fourth, and the Bulldogs promptly responded with by sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring 10 runs. Courtney Nesbit opened the inning with a base hit through the left side of the infield. Walks to Ali Bainbridge and Erin Nesbit loaded the bases, and Jessica Cooley put the Dawgs up 3-0 as she hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field that scored pinch-runner Allie Heon.
A Bramlett single, her third of the game, scored Bainbridge and Erin Nesbit to extend the advantage to 5-0. Bramlett, who moved to second on the throw home, stole third and came home on Spain's ground ball to shortstop. Spain moved to second as the throw to first was mishandled by the Golden Eagle first baseman.
Brittany Bell put runners at first and second as she was hit by a pitch for the 27th time in her career, one back of second place in the MSU record books. Ka'ili Smith loaded the bases as she was hit by a pitch off Luciani, who returned to the circle following Bramlett's base hit earlier in the inning.
Jessie Bailey pushed the lead to 7-0 as she drew a bases-loaded walk that scored Spain and retired Luciani for the night. Courtney Nesbit returned to the plate and greeted reliever Beth Dietrich with a base hit that scored Bell and Smith. Two batters later, Erin Nesbit lined a two-out single to center that scored Bailey and put the Bulldogs up 10-0.
"We did a great job offensively tonight. We got two early runs in the second, and then we did a good job batting around in a big fourth inning. " MSU head coach Jay Miller said. "Misty did a good job for us pitching, and Kylie came in and shut them down the rest of the way. It's nice to be swinging the bats like that going into this weekend's series at Ole Miss. I was very pleased with the way we came out tonight in a tough place to play."
Southern Miss got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth as Megan Hill led off with her seventh home run of the season, a solo shot to left field that made it a 10-1 game.
The Golden Eagles stayed alive in the game as they plated a pair of runs off two Bulldog miscues. Alexis Hurley reached on an error by MSU shortstop Erin Nesbit. Chanell Thurman followed with a double, and pinch-runners Kirsten Perry and Casey Jo Matthews scored as Ali Bainbridge was unable to come up with a pop-up behind first base.
Southern Miss scratched across another run in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the MSU lead to 10-4. Danielle LaPointe singled with one out, and Miller turned the ball over to Vry. The Des Moines, Iowa, native promptly got a ground-out for the second out of the inning, but Thurman dropped a single just over the out-stretched glove of Bainbridge in shallow center field that scored LaPointe.
MSU got those two runs back in the top of the seventh as Spain blasted a two-out offering from Courtney Ramos over the fence in left field that scored Bramlett after she reached on a throwing error by the Golden Eagle shortstop.
Brittany Bell kept the inning going as she singled through the left side of the infield and then beat the throw to second on a Smith ground ball. Bailey then extended the State lead to 14-4 as she lined a bases-clearing double to the gap in left-center.
Luciani fell to 4-3 in the losing effort after allowing six runs, five earned, on five hits with five strikeouts over 3.0 innings.
The Bulldogs return to Southeastern Conference play this weekend, traveling to Oxford for a three-game series with Ole Miss. The series begins Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader and concludes Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Flesher, Misty (7-4)
L: LUCIANI, Gabby (4-3)
Batting:
2B: Bailey, Jessie 2 ; Nesbit, Erin 1
HR: Spain, Jessie 1
RBI: Bramlett, Chelsea 2 ; Spain, Jessie 3 ; Bailey, Jessie 3 ; Nesbit, Courtney 2 ; Nesbit, Erin 3 ; Cooley, Jessica 1
SF: Cooley, Jessica 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bramlett, Chelsea 2 ; Spain, Jessie 2 ; Bell, Brittany 2 ; Smith, Ka'ili 2 ; Bailey, Jessie 2 ; Nesbit, Courtney 1 ; Heon, Allie 1 ; Bainbridge, Ali 1 ; Nesbit, Erin 1
SB: Bramlett, Chelsea 3 ; Nesbit, Courtney 1
HBP: Spain, Jessie 1 ; Bell, Brittany 1
Batting:
2B: DINELT, Britney 1 ; HILL, Megan 1 ; JAMES, Logan 1 ; THURMAN, Chanell 1
HR: HILL, Megan 1
RBI: HILL, Megan 1 ; THURMAN, Chanell 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HILL, Megan 1 ; SHIFLET, Stephanie 1 ; PERRY, Kirsten 1 ; MATTHEWS, Casey Jo 1
HBP: HILL, Megan 1
