Mississippi State
16-17
Alcorn State (DH-1)
11-15
Raines Homers Twice As Bulldogs Sweep Alcorn State
March 29, 2011 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Senior Chelsea Raines hit two home runs and drove in four runs, and sophomore Shelby Fisher also contributed four RBI as the Mississippi State softball team swept Alcorn State 11-2 and 10-1 Tuesday afternoon at the MSU Softball Field.
Raines' pair of shots, both two-run blasts, were the fifth and sixth home runs of the season for the Ackerman, Miss., native, and they both broke open tight games as the Bulldogs improved to 17-17 overall and 13-1 at home heading into a weekend series against in-state rival Ole Miss at the MSU Softball Field.
"It was good to get a couple of quick games. We came out and put some on the board early in both games," MSU head coach Jay Miller, who notched his 996th and 997th career wins, said. "We got great pitching in both games, especially from Stephanie Becker with the one-hitter in the second game. Chelsea Raines came up with two big blows for us, and I was pleased with the way we hit the ball throughout the lineup."
The Bulldog offense, which pounded out 22 hits on the day, supported the pitchers with six runs in the fourth inning of game one and seven more in the fourth inning of the nightcap.
Becker, a sophomore, allowed a first-inning home run, Alcorn's lone hit of the game, before retiring 13 of the final 15 batters she faced to earn the win and run her record to 4-3. The Aurora, Ill., native struck out nine in the game.
Her performance followed stellar showings from Kylie Vry and Misty Flesher in the opener. Vry improved to 6-7 as she allowed two runs (one earned) and two hits. Flesher surrendered one hit over the final two innings to notch her team-leading third save of the year. Both pitchers struck out four.
Fisher collected a career-high two hits and three RBI in the opening game before closing the afternoon with another pair of hits and an RBI.
After tallying a hit in game one, freshman Sam Lenahan hit two triples, second-most in school history, and drove in three runs in the nightcap.
In Tuesday's opener, MSU sprinted to a 5-0 lead with two runs in the first inning and three more scores in the second inning.
Junior Ka'ili Smith opened the scoring with an RBI triple in the first that plated senior Ali Bainbridge and put Mississippi State. Smith scored State's second run on a sacrifice fly by Courtney Nesbit.
The Bulldogs extended the lead to 5-0 with three runs in the second. Sophomore Jessica Cooley singled and came around to score on a wild pitch. Fisher followed with a base hit that plated Bainbridge after she drew her second of three walks in the game. Fisher touched home with the Dawgs' final run of the frame on a Smith single to center.
After Alcorn State (11-16) scored twice to close within 5-2, the Bulldogs removed all doubt by scoring six runs with two out in the home half of the fourth inning. Freshman Jessica Offutt reached on a one-out infield single, and Raines brought her home with her first home run of the afternoon, a towering shot over the left-center field wall off Lady Braves' starter Melissa Rubio (1-3).
Cooley put MSU up 8-0 as she tripled and scored when the throw to third sailed into the Bulldog dugout. Freshman Heidi Shape singled and Brittany Gates was hit by a pitch before Bainbridge walked to load the bases. Fisher delivered a two-run single before Bainbridge scored on a wild pitch to plate the inning's final run.
Alcorn State finished with three hits, including two hits by Jasmine Hubbard.
Hubbard capped her solid day with a two-out home run in the first inning of game two, but the lead was short-lived as Mississippi State answered with 10-straight runs to end the game in five innings.
The Bulldogs scratched the tying run across in the bottom of the first. Bainbridge walked and then stole second, one of a school second-most eight steals in the game. Two batters later, the Vestavia Hills, Ala., native swiped third and scored as the ASU catcher's throw sailed into left field.
Mississippi State took a 2-1 lead in the second as freshman Briana Bell hit a one-out single up the middle and later came home on a Chrissie Rovtar ground ball that was booted by the Lady Braves' third baseman.
Lenahan tripled to score Smith in the third before Mississippi State erupted for seven runs in the fourth.
Shape opened the frame with a bunt that scored Bell, who singled to open the inning. Gates doubled, moved to third on a Bainbridge base hit and scored on a Fisher infield single to put the Dawgs in front 5-1.
Bainbridge scored on a Courtney Nesbit fielder's choice, and Lenahan gave MSU a 7-1 advantage with a bases-clearing, two-run triple.
Raines then gave State its final runs as she lined a Kasey Duncan pitch over the wall in left-center.
Duncan fell to 3-8 as she was touched for 10 runs (eight earned) and 10 hits in the complete-game outing.
The Bulldogs and Rebels open their three-game league set at 5 p.m. Friday. The final two games of the series are set for 1 p.m. first pitches on Saturday and Sunday. Admission to the games is free, and a live audio stream will be available at www.mstateathletics.com/m2mlive.
Mississippi State 11,
Alcorn 2 (Mar 29, 2011 at Starkville,
Miss.) (Game 1)
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Alcorn.............. 002 00 - 2 3 3 (11-15)
Mississippi State... 230 6X - 11 12 1 (16-17)
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Pitchers: Alcorn - Melissa Rubio and AHarrington. Mississippi State - Kylie Vry;
Misty Flesher(4) and Sam Lenahan.
Win-Kylie Vry(6-7) Save-Misty Flesher(3) Loss-Melissa Rubio(1-3) T-1:40
HR MS - Chelsea Raines (5).
Weather: 55 degrees, cloudy
Mississippi State 10,
Alcorn 1 (Mar 29, 2011 at Starkville,
Miss.) (Game 2)
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Alcorn.............. 100 00 - 1 1 3 (11-16)
Mississippi State... 111 7X - 10 10 1 (17-17)
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Pitchers: Alcorn - Kasey Duncan and Kala Purry. Mississippi State - Stephanie Becker and
Win-Stephanie Becker(4-3) Loss-Kasey Duncan(3-8) T-1:28 A-233
HR ALCN - Jasmine Hubbard (2).
HR MS - Chelsea Raines (6).
Weather: 50 degrees, cloudy
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Vry, Kylie (6-7)
L: Melissa Rubio (1-3)
S: Flesher, Misty (3)
Batting:
RBI: Jasmine Hubbard 1
SH: Keia Hebert 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jasmine Hubbard 1 ; Rayanna Davis 1
Batting:
3B: Smith, Ka'ili 1 ; Cooley, Jessica 1
HR: Raines, Chelsea 1
RBI: Fisher, Shelby 3 ; Smith, Ka'ili 2 ; Nesbit, Courtney 1 ; Raines, Chelsea 2
SF: Nesbit, Courtney 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bainbridge, Ali 3 ; Fisher, Shelby 1 ; Smith, Ka'ili 1 ; Offutt, Jessica 1 ; Raines, Chelsea 1 ; Cooley, Jessica 2 ; Shape, Heidi 1 ; Bell, Briana 1
SB: Bainbridge, Ali 2 ; Offutt, Jessica 1 ; Lenahan, Sam 1
HBP: Bainbridge, Ali 1 ; Gates, Brittany 1
