Bulldog Softball Falls Short to No. 11 Georgia in Tuesday Twinbill

Tuesday, April 13

Starkville

5:00 PM

Mississippi State

22-22, 3-13

#13 Georgia (DH-1)

32-8, 10-6

Georgia

Mississippi State

Bramlett, Bailey Earn ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Honors

Bulldog Softball Falls Short to No. 11 Georgia in Tuesday Twinbill

April 13, 2010 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: hailstate.com

• Official Statistics (Game 1)
• Official Statistics (Game 1) (PDF)
• Official Statistics (Game 2)
• Official Statistics (Game 2) (PDF)

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Mississippi State softball team came up short in a pair of hard-fought games against No. 11 Georgia Tuesday afternoon at the MSU Softball Field. Georgia won the opener 3-0 before claiming a 7-6 win in the nightcap.

The pair of losses drops the Dawgs to 22-23 overall, 3-14 in SEC play.

Georgia (33-8, 11-6 SEC) scored a run in the top of the first of the nightcap, but the Bulldogs rallied with three runs in the home half of the frame to take a 3-1 advantage.

Chelsea Bramlett, who went 2-for-4 in the game, led off with a single and took second when she beat the throw on an Ali Bainbridge fielder's choice. The pair advanced on a passed ball, and Bramlett scored as Ka'ili Smith grounded out to second base.

Bramlett scored twice in the game, putting her four shy of the school's career runs scored record with 214.

A Jessie Bailey single plated Bainbridge to give MSU the 2-1 lead. Courtney Nesbit followed with a base hit that chased UGA starter Alanna Hadley, and a pair of walks to Jessie Spain and Erin Nesbit loaded the bases. Erin Nesbit brought in the inning's final run as reliever Alison Owen issued a free pass that plated Bailey.

The Bulldogs had a chance to open the game up with the bases loaded and one out, but Owen (9-0) got a pair of strikeouts to end the threat.

“We had a chance to break the game open in the first inning, but we took two called third strikes when we had a great chance,” MSU head coach Jay Miller said. “We let them hang around, and with a good team you can't do that.”

MSU starter Misty Flesher kept Georgia off the scoreboard the next two innings, but she found trouble in the fourth. With two outs in the inning, the Lone Grove, Okla., native allowed a single, a walk and hit a batter to load the bases. Taylor Schlopy drove in two runs with a base hit, and Megan Wiggins put the visiting Bulldogs up with a three-run home run.

Flesher fell to 9-8 on the year as she allowed six runs on seven hits with a pair of strikeouts over 3.2 innings.

Georgia added another run in the sixth off State reliever Stephanie Becker, but Lindsey Dunlap came back to the circle and retired six of the last seven UGA hitters in the game.

The Bulldog offense rallied in the bottom of the sixth off Owen (9-0). Jessica Cooley opened the inning with a single and Brittany Gates walked. Bramlett plated the pair as she lined a triple over a drawn-in Georgia outfield. Bainbridge singled home Bramlett to cut the UGA lead to 7-6, but the home-standing Dawgs were unable to draw any closer.

Dunlap went the distance in the afternoon's opening game, but was unable to overcome a three-run fifth by Georgia.

In the fifth inning, Ashley Pauly began things by reaching on a one-out infield error. Laura Trout followed with her third home run of the year, a two-run shot to left field. Taylor Schlopy and Megan Wiggins closed the inning with back-to-back doubles.

Acworth, Ga., natives Courtney and Erin Nesbit collected all three of State's hits in the game. Erin had a single in the fifth and another in the seventh following sister Courtney's base hit to right field.

“We have to give Lindsey some support, and we didn't do that in the first game,” Miller said. “She threw well and gave us a chance to win, which is what you want your pitchers to do. I thought she did a great job in relief in the second game.”

Dunlap (4-6) allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits while striking out six. Georgia starter Sarah McCloud (6-1) also went the distance, allowing three hits and issuing two walks.

Mississippi State ventures to Columbia, S.C., this weekend for a three-game series against the South Carolina Gamecocks. The two teams open the set with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at noon CT. Sunday's series finale is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch and will be broadcast on SportSouth.