Mississippi State
19-13
Mississippi Valley State
9-16
Cooley's Grand Slam Powers MSU Softball to 9-6 Win Over MVSU
March 24, 2010 | Softball
• Official Statistics
• Official Statistics (PDF)
ITTA BENA, Miss. – Freshman Jessica Cooley's grand slam sparked a seven-run third inning as the Mississippi State softball team defeated Mississippi Valley State 9-6 Wednesday afternoon at the MVSU Softball Field in Itta Bena.
Cooley's first career home run capped a 2-for-4 afternoon. Jessie Bailey added three hits and drove in a pair of runs as State improved to 19-13 on the year.
Senior all-American Chelsea Bramlett contributed a pair of hits while stealing her 40th-straight base of the year and 48th going back to the 2009 season.
The Bulldogs opened the game with a run in the first inning. Ali Bainbridge lined a double to the gap in left-center with one out. She scored two batters later as Ka'ili Smith delivered a two-out single to right field.
The Bulldogs put another run in scoring position in the top of the second. Erin Nesbit drew a walk with one out and took second when Cooley found a hole on the left side of the infield. Bramlett drove a single to center, but Nesbit was thrown out at the plate to keep the MSU lead at 1-0.
That putout at the plate allowed Mississippi Valley State (9-16) to tie the game at 1-1 in the home half on lead-off batter Alexandria Roberson's homer run to left field. MVSU had a chance to push across some additional runs, but State starter Kylie Vry got a pair of ground-outs to work out of a bases-loaded jam.
The Bulldogs broke the deadlock with a seven-run top of the third that gave the Dawgs an 8-1 advantage. Bainbridge was hit by a pitch to spark the frame. Consecutive base hits from Brittany Bell and Smith loaded the bases, and Jessie Bailey broke the tie with a single that scored Bainbridge and Bell.
Courtney Nesbit walked to re-load the bases, and her sister Erin put MSU up 4-1 as she reached on a catcher's interference call that brought Smith home. Cooley then capped the inning and chased Delta Devilette starter Lisa Jansen from the circle as she blasted into the trees beyond left-center field.
Mississippi Valley State plated three runs in the bottom of the third to cut the MSU lead to 8-4. Tiana Parks opened the inning with a home run that chased Vry for Lindsey Dunlap. Ta'Niya Wallace, the first batter Dunlap faced, cut the deficit to 8-3 as she homered to left-center. Three-straight walks loaded the bases, and following two strikeouts, Dunlap issued a free pass to Ashley Hobbs that scored the inning's final run.
“We were lucky to win this game today,” MSU head coach Jay Miller said. “We lost our focus out there. We weren't good at the plate outside of that seven-run inning, and our pitching really struggled. You can't keep giving teams chances like that.”
Following that three-run burst by MVSU, Dunlap settled in and allowed just two Delta Devilettes to reach until she found trouble again in the seventh. She hit Roberson with a pitch to open the frame, and issued a walk to Shanika Randle two batters later. Haleigh Eubanks cut the game to its final 9-6 score as she lined a ball to right-center that cleared the bases.
Before the Delta Devilettes' rally in their final at-bat, State added its final run in the top of the inning. With one out, Brittany Gates bounced a single up the middle. Bramlett followed with a ground ball to short, but Gates managed to beat the throw to second. Both stole third and second, respectively, and Gates came home on a Bainbridge ground-out to short.
Dunlap earned the win and improved to 3-2 on the year. The Hueytown, Ala., native allowed four runs and three hits while striking out eight in five innings of relief. Vry left after tossing two innings and giving up two runs on three hits with a strikeout.
Jansen suffered the loss for MVSU to fall to 6-7. Like Vry, she failed to register an out in the third, giving up eight runs, seven earned, and eight hits while striking out two. Franklin tossed the final five frames, giving up a run on five hits.
The Bulldogs travel to Fayetteville, Ark., this weekend for a three-game SEC series against the Arkansas Razorbacks. The two teams open the series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday's series finale is also set for a 1 p.m. first pitch. A live audio stream of all three games will be available on www.mstateathletics.com/m2mlive.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Dunlap, Lindsey (3-2)
L: Lisa Jansen (6-7)
Batting:
2B: Bainbridge, Ali 1
HR: Cooley, Jessica 1
RBI: Bainbridge, Ali 1 ; Smith, Ka'ili 1 ; Bailey, Jessie 2 ; Cooley, Jessica 4
SH: Bramlett, Chelsea 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bainbridge, Ali 2 ; Bell, Brittany 1 ; Smith, Ka'ili 1 ; Bailey, Jessie 1 ; Nesbit, Courtney 1 ; Nesbit, Erin 1 ; Cooley, Jessica 1 ; Gates, Brittany 1
SB: Bramlett, Chelsea 1 ; Bailey, Jessie 1 ; Gates, Brittany 1
HBP: Bainbridge, Ali 1
Batting:
2B: Haleigh Eubanks 1
3B: Tiana Parks 1
HR: Tiana Parks 1 ; Ta'Niya Wallace 1 ; Alexandria Robertson 1
RBI: Ashley Hobbs 1 ; Tiana Parks 1 ; Ta'Niya Wallace 1 ; Alexandria Robertson 1 ; Haleigh Eubanks 2
SH: Ashley Lawrence 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tiana Parks 1 ; Ta'Niya Wallace 1 ; Alexandria Robertson 3 ; Shanika Randle 1
HBP: Alexandria Robertson 1
