Mississippi State
18-13, 2-4
Ole Miss
18-13, 5-5
Nesbit Sisters Power MSU Softball to 11-5 Win Over Ole Miss
March 21, 2010 | Softball
• Official Statistics
• Official Statistics (PDF)
OXFORD, Miss. – Courtney Nesbit hit her first career grand slam, and her sister, Erin, went 4-for-4 with two RBI as the Mississippi State softball team defeated Ole Miss 11-5 in Sunday's final game of a three-game Southeastern Conference series in Oxford.
The Bulldogs avoided the series sweep and improved to 18-13 overall, 2-4 in SEC play. Ole Miss dropped to 18-13 overall and 5-5 in SEC action.
Courtney Nesbit drove in a career-high four RBI in the game, while Erin claimed a season-high four hits while finishing a home run shy of the cycle.
Senior all-American Chelsea Bramlett had another stellar day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. The Cordova, Tenn., native also stole her 39th-straight base of the season and extended her school-record consecutive steals streak to 47.
After Ole Miss took the 1-0 lead following the bottom of the first, Courtney Nesbit answered with the Dawgs' third grand slam of the year in the third inning. Ali Bainbridge and Brittany Bell each walked with one out to chase UM starter Lindsey Perry. Becky Nye, the game one winner, entered the game and proceeded to load the bases with a walk to Ka'ili Smith.
A Jessie Bailey fielder's choice retired Bainbridge at home for the second out of the inning, but Courtney Nesbit took the second pitch she saw from Nye and lined it over the wall in left field to put the Dawgs up 4-1.
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Rebels answered with three runs in the home half of the third to tie the game. Courtnie Ghinaudo reached on an error to open the inning. A Corrine Doornberg base hit and a sacrifice by Alise Doubt moved Ghinaudo to third. State elected to intentionally walk Lauren Grill to load the bases, and Brittany Barnhill followed with an infield hit that plated Doornberg and Ghinaudo to make it a 4-3 game.
Amber Tramp then drove in the tying run as she dropped a base hit into right field that scored Grill, who moved to third on an errant throw.
State took the lead for good with a run in the fourth off Kelly Chandler, Ole Miss' third pitcher of the game. Bramlett opened the frame with her first base hit of the game. After stealing second, she took third on Bainbridge's fly ball to deep center field. A Bell ground-out to third brought her home to give MSU a 5-4 advantage.
“The Nesbit sisters had a great day for us at the plate. Courtney's grand slam really got our offense going, and I thought we did a good job of keeping the pressure on at the plate,” Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller said. “We let them back in the game with a couple of defensive mistakes in the third inning, but I was really proud of the way our offense answered back.”
Ole Miss threatened again in the bottom of the fourth, but State starter Kylie Vry worked out of the jam to preserve the one-run lead. Ashley Dowdy reached on a lead-off single and moved to second on a Ghinaudo sacrifice. A base hit and stolen base by Doornberg put runners in scoring position, and the Dawgs elected to once again intentionally walk Grill to load the bases.
Barnhill, who came through with a base hit in the three-run third, was unable to do so again as Vry got her to ground-out to Jessie Bailey to leave the bases full of Rebels.
Vry went the distance to earn her sixth victory of the season. The Des Moines, Iowa, freshman allowed five runs, three earned, and 10 hits while striking out four.
“Kylie gave us what we needed in the circle today,” Miller said. “She was smarter out there today, and she did a nice job of avoiding the big inning.”
That big out shifted the momentum to the Bulldogs, who responded with a three-run fifth that extended the lead to 8-4. Bailey kicked off the inning with a single. Two batters later, Jessica Cooley reached on a ball that was misplayed by Grill at shortstop. Erin Nesbit cleared the bases as she lined a one-out triple to the right-center field gap.
Erin Nesbit was thrown out at home on a Brittany Gates fielder's choice. Gates moved to second on a wild pitch and scored as Bramlett lined a two-out single through the right side of the infield.
The Rebels added their final run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Dawgs weren't done as they tacked on three more runs in the seventh off Perry, who re-entered the game an inning earlier. With one out in the inning, Erin Nesbit doubled to right-center and moved to third on a passed ball.
She extended the State lead to 9-5 as she scored on a Bramlett single to center field. Bainbridge reached and Bramlett took second on Grill's second error of the game. The two advanced on a Bell base hit, and after Smith walked to load the bases, Bainbridge came home with State's final run on a wild pitch.
Chandler suffered the loss for Ole Miss in her first decision of the year. She gave up four runs, two earned, on four hits over two innings of work. Perry tossed 4.1 innings in two separate stints, allowing six runs, three earned, with seven strikeouts. Nye was touched for a run and three hits in just under an inning of work.
The Bulldogs return to the road on Wednesday, traveling to Itta Bena, Miss., for a 5 p.m. game against Mississippi Valley State.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Vry, Kylie (6-4)
L: Kelly Chandler (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Nesbit, Erin 1
3B: Nesbit, Erin 1
HR: Nesbit, Courtney 1
RBI: Bramlett, Chelsea 2 ; Bell, Brittany 2 ; Nesbit, Courtney 4 ; Nesbit, Erin 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Bramlett, Chelsea 2 ; Bainbridge, Ali 1 ; Bell, Brittany 1 ; Smith, Ka'ili 1 ; Bailey, Jessie 2 ; Nesbit, Courtney 1 ; Cooley, Jessica 1 ; Nesbit, Erin 1 ; Gates, Brittany 1
SB: Bramlett, Chelsea 1 ; Bell, Brittany 2
CS: Bell, Brittany 1
HBP: Bailey, Jessie 1
Batting:
2B: Amber Tramp 1
3B: Corrine Doornberg 1
RBI: Lauren Grill 1 ; Brittany Barnhill 2 ; Amber Tramp 1
SH: Alise Doubt 1 ; Courtnie Ghinaudo 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Corrine Doornberg 2 ; Lauren Grill 1 ; Brittany Broome 1 ; Courtnie Ghinaudo 1
SB: Corrine Doornberg 1
