Mississippi State
17-18, 5-6
Ole Miss
13-24, 3-9
Shape, Fisher Collect Multiple Hits As Dawgs Drop Series Opener To Rebels
April 01, 2011 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Sophomore Shelby Fisher and freshman Heidi Shape collected two hits each as Mississippi State dropped a tough 6-0 decision to Ole Miss in the SEC series opener Friday evening at the MSU Softball Field.
Mississippi State fell to 17-18 overall and 5-6 in SEC play, while Ole Miss improved to 13-24 and 3-9 in the league.
Both of Shape's base hits came with two outs in the game, while Fisher's two-hit effort came on the heels of a two-hit, three-RBI performance against Alcorn State on Tuesday.
Mississippi State pounded out six hits in the game, but was unable to get the timely hit as 11 runners were left on base in the game.
"I thought we were kind of snake-bit in a lot of situations. We had some good shots, but they just didn't come at the right time," MSU head coach Jay Miller, who owns 997 career victories, said. "We left a lot of runners on base, and they did a good job of taking advantage when they got runners in scoring position. We hit the ball, but we just didn't get the hits at the right time."
After the Bulldogs got out of a jam in the first inning, they had an opportunity to put the first run on the scoreboard in the home half of the second.
Courtney Nesbit opened the inning with a walk, and pinch runner Jessica Offutt moved to second on a Sam Lenahan groundout. Two batters later, Shape lined a single to left, but Offutt was thrown out at the plate to keep the game scoreless.
The Rebels punched the decisive runs across in a three-run third. Londen Ladner hit a two-run single, and Brittany Barnhill scored the final run on a sacrifice fly off Bulldog starter Misty Flesher.
Flesher fell to 6-5 as she tossed three innings and surrendered four runs and six hits. Sophomore Kylie Vry went the final four frames and was touched for two runs (one earned) and five hits. Flesher and Vry struck out three batters each.
After Ole Miss added another run in the fourth, MSU left the bases loaded in the bottom of the frame. Lenahan walked with one out, and Shape singled up the middle two batters later. Freshman Briana Bell was hit by a pitch to pack the bases, but UM reliever Lindsey Perry avoided any damage as she got Jessica Cooley to ground out to short.
Perry improved to 10-3 as she tossed three innings and allowed three hits while striking out one. Kendall Bruning gave up two hits over the opening three innings, while Barnhill tossed the final frame.
The Rebels added a run in the sixth and another in the seventh for the final tally.
State will try to bounce back and even the series at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Ole Miss 6, Mississippi State
0 (Apr 01, 2011 at Starkville,
Miss.)
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Ole Miss............ 003 101 1 - 6 11 0 (13-24, 3-9 SEC)
Mississippi State... 000 000 0 - 0 6 1 (17-18, 5-6 SEC)
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Pitchers: Ole Miss - Kendall Bruning; Lindsey Perry(4); Brittany Barnhill(7) and Kelly Nolan.
Mississippi State - Misty Flesher; Kylie Vry(4) and Sam Lenahan.
Win-Lindsey Perry(10-3) Loss-Misty Flesher(6-5) T-2:02 A-483
M. Flesher faced 1 batter in the 4th.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lindsey Perry (10-3)
L: Flesher, Misty (6-5)
Batting:
2B: Brittany Broome 1 ; Londen Ladner 1
RBI: RT Cantillo 1 ; Londen Ladner 2 ; Brittany Barnhill 1 ; Kelly Nolan 1
SH: Brittany Broome 1
SF: Brittany Barnhill 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brittany Broome 1 ; RT Cantillo 1 ; Brittany Barnhill 1 ; Cali Overbeck 1 ; Amanda Hutcheson 1 ; Mallory McNeal 1
CS: Kelly Nolan 1
PO: RT Cantillo 1
Batting:
2B: Fisher, Shelby 1
3B: Bainbridge, Ali 1
Base Running:
HBP: Lenahan, Sam 1 ; Bell, Briana 1
