Sunday, February 13
Las Vegas, Nev.
12:00 PM
Mississippi State
1-4
5
vs
2
Illinois-Chicago
3-2
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Illinois-Chicago
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
6
1
Mississippi State
2
0
1
1
1
0
X
5
10
0
Flesher Hurls Bulldogs to 5-2 Win Over Flames
February 13, 2011 | Softball
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Freshman Heidi Shape drove in three runs and junior Misty Flesher tossed four shutout innings Sunday afternoon as Mississippi State defeated Illinois-Chicago 5-2 in the final game of the Sportco Kick-Off Classic in Las Vegas.
Shape capped a stellar opening weekend with a pair of hits. Her first-inning single gave MSU a 2-1 lead, and she capped the scoring in the fifth with an RBI double. The Duluth, Ga., native finished her first weekend of collegiate action with a .400 batting average and 12 RBI. She also belted a pair of home runs, including a grand slam.
Pitching in relief of State starter Kylie Vry, Flesher extinguished the Flames' bats, holding them to one hit over the final four innings to earn her first victory.
Senior Courtney Nesbit, who paced the Dawgs (1-4) with a .563 average, doubled home the winning run in the third to highlight a 2-for-3 afternoon.
“We got good pitching today, and I thought we were a little more consistent. We did a better job of hitting through the line-up,” Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller said. “Heidi Shape's two-run hit with two outs in the first was big, and Courtney Nesbit came up with a big hit for us. We needed to get that first win under our belt, and it was a good time to do it.”
Illinois-Chicago (3-2) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in its first at-bat. With one out in the frame, Vry, who allowed two runs and five hits in three innings, struck out Carly DeMarco, but a wild pitch allowed her to reach base.
Two batters later, Ashley Hewett singled, and Jenna Marsalli put the Flames up 1-0 as she plated DeMarco with a two-out single to right field.
The Dawgs answered right back, plating a pair of runs on Shape's two-out hit. Junior Ka'ili Smith, hitting in the leadoff spot for the first time, beat-out an infield single. Sophomore Shelby Fisher followed with a base hit, and the pair advanced into scoring position on an Ali Bainbridge sacrifice bunt.
Following a ground-out, Shape battled at the plate before bouncing a ball up the middle to clear the bases and give the Bulldogs the lead.
After UIC put the tying run across with a two-out base hit in the top of the third, the Bulldogs once again responded to regain the lead in the home half of the frame. With one out, Bainbridge reached as UIC second baseman Christie Seddon's throw pulled Coryn Schmit off first base.
Nesbit made the most of the mistake, taking a pitch to the gap in right-center and scoring Bainbridge for the winning run.
The Flames had an opportunity to tie or re-take the lead in the top of the fourth. Reliever Misty Flesher issued a lead-off walk to Kelsey Sturgeon and Melinda Macias followed with a base hit. The pair took third and second, respectively, on a DeMarco sacrifice, but Flesher escaped the jam unscathed as she got an infield pop-out and a ground-out.
The Bulldog bats gave Flesher some additional support as they plated another run in the bottom of the fourth to increase the lead to 4-2.
Brittany Bell opened the frame with an infield single. The Brandon, Fla., native utilized her speed to take third on a wild pitch, and Chelsea Raines brought her to the plate with a single through the left side of the infield.
The Dawgs tacked on another run in the fifth to push the lead to 5-2. Bainbridge and Nesbit sparked the frame with back-to-back singles. After Bainbridge was thrown out at third on a double steal attempt, Shape fired a double down the left-field line that scored Nesbit.
The Bulldogs open the 2011 home slate next weekend, hosting Butler, Louisiana Tech and Southern Illinois in the Feb. 18-20 Bulldog Round-Robin. State opens play at 3 p.m. Friday, taking on Louisiana Tech.
Mississippi State 5, Illinois-Chicago 2 (Feb 13, 2011 at Las Vegas, Nev.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Illinois-Chicago.... 101 000 0 - 2 6 1 (3-2)
Mississippi State... 201 110 X - 5 10 0 (1-4)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Illinois-Chicago - Devin Miller and Teresa Aguilar. Mississippi State - Kylie Vry;
Misty Flesher(4) and Samantha Lenahan.
Win-Misty Flesher(1-0) Loss-Devin Miller(1-2) T-1:31
Shape capped a stellar opening weekend with a pair of hits. Her first-inning single gave MSU a 2-1 lead, and she capped the scoring in the fifth with an RBI double. The Duluth, Ga., native finished her first weekend of collegiate action with a .400 batting average and 12 RBI. She also belted a pair of home runs, including a grand slam.
Pitching in relief of State starter Kylie Vry, Flesher extinguished the Flames' bats, holding them to one hit over the final four innings to earn her first victory.
Senior Courtney Nesbit, who paced the Dawgs (1-4) with a .563 average, doubled home the winning run in the third to highlight a 2-for-3 afternoon.
“We got good pitching today, and I thought we were a little more consistent. We did a better job of hitting through the line-up,” Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller said. “Heidi Shape's two-run hit with two outs in the first was big, and Courtney Nesbit came up with a big hit for us. We needed to get that first win under our belt, and it was a good time to do it.”
Illinois-Chicago (3-2) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in its first at-bat. With one out in the frame, Vry, who allowed two runs and five hits in three innings, struck out Carly DeMarco, but a wild pitch allowed her to reach base.
Two batters later, Ashley Hewett singled, and Jenna Marsalli put the Flames up 1-0 as she plated DeMarco with a two-out single to right field.
The Dawgs answered right back, plating a pair of runs on Shape's two-out hit. Junior Ka'ili Smith, hitting in the leadoff spot for the first time, beat-out an infield single. Sophomore Shelby Fisher followed with a base hit, and the pair advanced into scoring position on an Ali Bainbridge sacrifice bunt.
Following a ground-out, Shape battled at the plate before bouncing a ball up the middle to clear the bases and give the Bulldogs the lead.
After UIC put the tying run across with a two-out base hit in the top of the third, the Bulldogs once again responded to regain the lead in the home half of the frame. With one out, Bainbridge reached as UIC second baseman Christie Seddon's throw pulled Coryn Schmit off first base.
Nesbit made the most of the mistake, taking a pitch to the gap in right-center and scoring Bainbridge for the winning run.
The Flames had an opportunity to tie or re-take the lead in the top of the fourth. Reliever Misty Flesher issued a lead-off walk to Kelsey Sturgeon and Melinda Macias followed with a base hit. The pair took third and second, respectively, on a DeMarco sacrifice, but Flesher escaped the jam unscathed as she got an infield pop-out and a ground-out.
The Bulldog bats gave Flesher some additional support as they plated another run in the bottom of the fourth to increase the lead to 4-2.
Brittany Bell opened the frame with an infield single. The Brandon, Fla., native utilized her speed to take third on a wild pitch, and Chelsea Raines brought her to the plate with a single through the left side of the infield.
The Dawgs tacked on another run in the fifth to push the lead to 5-2. Bainbridge and Nesbit sparked the frame with back-to-back singles. After Bainbridge was thrown out at third on a double steal attempt, Shape fired a double down the left-field line that scored Nesbit.
The Bulldogs open the 2011 home slate next weekend, hosting Butler, Louisiana Tech and Southern Illinois in the Feb. 18-20 Bulldog Round-Robin. State opens play at 3 p.m. Friday, taking on Louisiana Tech.
Mississippi State 5, Illinois-Chicago 2 (Feb 13, 2011 at Las Vegas, Nev.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Illinois-Chicago.... 101 000 0 - 2 6 1 (3-2)
Mississippi State... 201 110 X - 5 10 0 (1-4)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Illinois-Chicago - Devin Miller and Teresa Aguilar. Mississippi State - Kylie Vry;
Misty Flesher(4) and Samantha Lenahan.
Win-Misty Flesher(1-0) Loss-Devin Miller(1-2) T-1:31
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Flesher, Misty (1-0)
L: Devin Miller (1-2)
Batting:
RBI: Jenna Marsalli 1 ; Natalie Hernandez 1
SH: Carly Demarco 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Carly Demarco 1 ; Jenna Marsalli 1
Batting:
2B: Nesbit, Courtney 1 ; Shape, Heidi 1
RBI: Nesbit, Courtney 1 ; Shape, Heidi 3 ; Raines, Chelsea 1
SH: Bainbridge, Ali 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith, Ka'ili 1 ; Fisher, Shelby 1 ; Bainbridge, Ali 1 ; Nesbit, Courtney 1 ; Bell, Brittany 1
CS: Bainbridge, Ali 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF/OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
OF/INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball1B/OF
/ Softball
INF/C
/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballOF/C
/ Softball
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