Mississippi State
Southern Miss
Shape's Homer Powers Dawgs to 6-4 Win Against Golden Eagles
February 23, 2011 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Heidi Shape's fantastic freshman season continued Wednesday as her two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning powered Mississippi State to a 6-4 win against Southern Mississippi Wednesday afternoon at the MSU Softball Field.
After USM (5-5) tied the game at four with a home run in the top of the fifth, junior Brittany Gates sparked the decisive inning for Mississippi State (5-5) with a one-out double to the gap in left-center. The Houston, Miss., native had two hits in the game along with fellow junior Ka'ili Smith.
Following a ground-out, Shape took a 1-0 pitch from Golden Eagle starter Kelly Smith and lined her third round-tripper of the season just inside the foul pole in left field.
"I was looking for a pitch high and inside. She threw it, and it felt good when I hit it," Shape said.
"A big, big home run by Heidi, but Brittany Gates really got us going with that double to put the winning run in scoring position," MSU coach Jay Miller said. "It was a great swing by Heidi, though. I thought it was going to go foul, but she got it to stay fair."
Sophomore Kylie Vry silenced the USM bats in the seventh to pick up the win in relief. Vry, now 2-3 on the season, allowed a run and two hits while striking out a pair in relief of starter Misty Flesher, who was touched for three runs over the opening 2.2 innings.
After State left the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, USM jumped out to the early 1-0 lead as Chanell Thurman doubled to bring home Michelle Takeda, who singled earlier in the frame.
"I thought we had some great opportunities early with the bases loaded. We have to step up and drive in runs in those situations," Miller said. "We didn't adjust at the plate well, but we were able to scratch across enough runs to win the game."
The Dawgs answered in the bottom of the frame, plating a pair of runs to go ahead 2-1. Chelsea Raines delivered a one-out base hit, and Gates reached on an infield chopper. Senior Ali Bainbridge then took the first pitch she saw from Smith and lined a bases-clearing double to the gap in right-center.
Southern Miss went back ahead in the third, scoring a pair of runs on a Christina Roosmalen single and a Takeda base hit. The Bulldogs fired right back, however, putting up a two-spot of their own in the bottom of the frame to go ahead 4-3.
Smith opened the inning with a single, and senior Courtney Nesbit reached on an error by USM third baseman Brittany Lilly. A walk to Sam Lenahan loaded the bases, and two batters later, Erin Nesbit came through with a clutch two-out base hit that scored Smith with the tying run. Nesbit also managed to come home on the play, crossing with the go-ahead run as the throw to home bounced away from the catcher.
Vry blanked USM in the fourth before Leslie LeJune's leadoff home run in the fifth tied the game to set up the sixth-inning heroics by Gates and Shape.
The Bulldogs travel to Woodstock, Ga., this weekend for the Phyllis Rafter Memorial hosted by Kennesaw State. The Dawgs open play Friday, taking on Bowling Green and Mercer and Noon and 2:30 p.m. CT, respectively. State challenges Georgia State (Noon) and the host Owls (2:30 p.m.) on Saturday before closing the weekend against Purdue at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Mississippi State 6, Southern Miss 4 (Feb 23, 2011 at Starkville, Miss.)
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Southern Miss.......
012 010 0 - 4 6
2 (5-5)
Mississippi State... 022 002 X - 6
9 0 (5-5)
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Pitchers: Southern Miss - SMITH, Kelly and SHER, Mackenzie. Mississippi State - Misty Flesher;
Kylie Vry(3) and Sam Lenahan.
Win-Kylie Vry(2-3) Loss-SMITH, Kelly(1-1) T-1:50 A-225
HR USM - LEJUNE, Leslie.
HR MS - Heidi Shape.
Weather: 68 degrees, cloudy
