Mississippi State
15-15, 5-3
#24 Kentucky
20-7, 6-3
Lenahan Homers As Bulldogs Fall To No. 23 Kentucky
March 25, 2011 | Softball
Senior Chelsea Raines followed last Sunday's heroics against Arkansas with a 2-for-4, two-RBI outing Friday night. Junior Ka'ili Smith scored three times as she went 1-for-2 and walked twice.
In a game that went back and forth over the first few innings, Mississippi State (15-15, 5-3 SEC) took the early lead with two runs in the top of the first. Bainbridge opened the game with her 11th double of the year, and she scored two batters later as Smith lined a double of her own off the wall in center field.
Smith moved to third on a Courtney Nesbit base hit and scored on a Lenahan fielder's choice to put the Dawgs in front 2-0.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Kentucky (20-7, 6-3 SEC) scratched across the tying runs in the bottom of the second inning. Brittany Cervantes opened the frame with her ninth home run of the season, and Samantha DeMartine scored the tying run as she singled and came around to score on Alice O'Brien's one-out sacrifice fly.
The Dawgs regained the lead at 4-2 in the top of the third as Smith walked and Lenahan lined her fifth home run of the season over the wall in right-center field.
UK, however, got a leadoff home run from Megan Yocke and a three-run blast from Lauren Cumbess in the home half of the third to reclaim the lead at 6-4. Yocke and Cumbess drove in three runs each to pace the Wildcats at the plate.
"They scored all of their runs in three innings, but the six-run fifth broke our back," Mississippi State coach Jay Miller said. "We have to keep the ball in the yard. We threw too many balls over the fat part of the plate, and they took advantage of it. We have to fix that for tomorrow and hopefully come out strong."
Mississippi State answered with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 6-6. Smith and Nesbit opened the inning with back-to-back walks, and Raines cleared the bases with a one-out double off Kentucky starter Rachel Riley.
Riley, who improved to 6-2 with the win, put the Wildcats on top for good as she helped her own cause with a two-run home run off MSU reliever Misty Flesher that sparked a six-run Kentucky fifth inning.
Annie Rowlands added an RBI single off Stephanie Becker - State's third pitcher of the game - and Yocke capped the frame with a two-run base hit.
Flesher fell to 6-4 as she was touched for six runs and four hits over two innings. Becker tossed the final two frames, allowing three unearned runs and three hits while striking out a trio of Wildcats.
Sophomore Kylie Vry tossed the opening pair of frames, surrendering three runs and four hits.
The two teams resume the series at 12 p.m. CT on Saturday. Sunday's series finale is also scheduled for a Noon first pitch. Both games can be heard for free at www.mstateathletics.com/m2mlive.
Kentucky 12, Mississippi
State 6 (Mar 25, 2011 at Lexington, Ky.)
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Mississippi State... 202 020 0 - 6 9 3 (15-15, 5-3 SEC)
Kentucky............ 024 060 X - 12 11 2 (20-7, 6-3 SEC)
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Pitchers: Mississippi State - Kylie Vry; Misty Flesher(3); Stephanie Becker(5) and Sam Lenahan.
Kentucky - Rachel Riley; Ellen Weaver(6) and Megan Yocke.
Win-Rachel Riley(6-2) Loss-Misty Flesher(6-4) T-2:21 A-795
HR MS - Sam Lenahan (5).
HR UK - Megan Yocke (8); Brittany Cervantes (9); Rachel Riley (2); Lauren Cumbess (2).
Weather: cloudy, upper 30s
K. Vry faced 1 batter in the 3rd.
M. Flesher faced 3 batters in the 5th.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rachel Riley (6-2)
L: Flesher, Misty (6-4)
Batting:
2B: Bainbridge, Ali 1 ; Smith, Ka'ili 1 ; Raines, Chelsea 1
HR: Lenahan, Sam 1
RBI: Smith, Ka'ili 1 ; Lenahan, Sam 3 ; Raines, Chelsea 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Bainbridge, Ali 1 ; Smith, Ka'ili 3 ; Offutt, Jessica 1 ; Lenahan, Sam 1
SB: Bainbridge, Ali 1
Batting:
HR: Megan Yocke 1 ; Brittany Cervantes 1 ; Rachel Riley 1 ; Lauren Cumbess 1
RBI: Megan Yocke 3 ; Brittany Cervantes 1 ; Rachel Riley 2 ; Lauren Cumbess 3 ; Annie Rowlands 1 ; Alice O'Brien 1
SH: Brittany Cervantes 1
SF: Alice O'Brien 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Megan Yocke 2 ; Kara Dill 1 ; Brittany Cervantes 2 ; Rachel Riley 1 ; Samantha DeMartine 2 ; Ginny Carroll 1 ; Lauren Cumbess 2 ; Annie Rowlands 1
HBP: Annie Rowlands 1
