Mississippi State
21-22, 8-9
#5 Alabama
39-5, 13-4
Nesbit, Smith Lead Way As Bulldogs Fall Twice To No. 3 Alabama
April 16, 2011 | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Courtney Nesbit and Ka'ili Smith tallied three hits apiece as the Mississippi State softball team fell 6-2 and 13-3 to No. 3 Alabama Saturday afternoon in an SEC doubleheader at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
MSU's record fell to 21-23 overall and 8-10 in SEC play. The Crimson Tide improved to 40-5 and 14-4 in league action.
Nesbit doubled in her third-straight game in Saturday's opener. The Acworth, Ga., native tallied a pair of hits and drove in a run in the nightcap.
Smith also went 2-for-3, including a double, with an RBI in game two after driving in a run and scoring another in Saturday's opening game.
Freshman Sam Lenahan hit her seventh home run of the season in the second inning of game two.
Smith sparked Mississippi State a 2-0 lead in the first inning of Saturday's opener. Senior Ali Bainbridge was hit by a pitch to open the game, and Jessica Cooley sacrificed her to second base before Smith punched an RBI base hit up the middle.
Nesbit followed with a towering double off the wall in left-center, and freshman Heidi Shape put MSU up 2-0 as her ground ball to short brought home Smith.
State had a chance to increase the lead in the second as Brittany Gates hit a leadoff single, took second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a Shelby Fisher sacrifice bunt. The Dawgs were unable to get her home, however, as a strikeout and groundout ended the inning.
Becker silenced the Alabama bats until the fourth when Jennifer Fenton doubled and Whitney Larsen tied the game 2-2 with a home run to left-center field.
Alabama completed the rally in the bottom of the sixth. Jackie Traina hit an infield single, and Kaila Hunt and Cassie Reilly-Boccia each reached to load the bases before Jazlyn Lunceford hit a pinch-hit grand slam to plate the winning runs.
Becker fell to 6-4 ass she allowed six runs and seven hits. The Aurora, Ill., native struck out three in the complete-game effort.
Kelsi Dunne ran her record to 19-2 as she allowed the two MSU runs and three hits while striking out seven.
"I thought Stephanie did a good job today, but two pitches were the difference in the game. Other than those, I thought she did a great job today," Bulldog head coach Jay Miller said. "We came out really strong and put some runs on the scoreboard in the first inning. We had an opportunity to score some more runs, but we left some runners on base and didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had. Dunne wasn't real sharp early, but as the game went on she got stronger.
"In game two, we weren't able to put any zeros on the scoreboard, and you have to do that on the mound to win games in the SEC. We have to bounce back and try to come out strong tomorrow," Miller said.
Alabama jumped out to the early 2-0 lead in game two, plating a pair of runs without garnering a hit. Kayla Braud was hit by a pitch to open the inning. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and eventually scored on an illegal pitch. Larsen, who walked, came around to score on a wild pitch by MSU starter Kylie Vry.
Vry fell to 8-11 as she was touched for eight runs (seven earned) on five hits over two different stints in the game.
The Bulldog bats got a run back in the top of the second as Lenahan belted a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left-center field, her seventh home run of the season, off Traina.
Traina notched the win to run her record to 16-3. She allowed three runs (two earned) and seven hits over 5.2 innings.
The Crimson Tide answered in the bottom of the second as Reilly-Boccia opened the inning with a home run that just cleared the top of the wall in center field.
Jackey Branham followed with a single, and she put Alabama in front 4-1 as she came around to score when Larsen was hit by a Misty Flesher pitch with the bases loaded.
Flesher tossed three innings, allowing two runs and seven hits. She gave way to freshman Shana Sherrod, who was tagged for three unearned runs in 0.2 innings.
Alabama extended the lead to 5-1 in the third as Kendall Dawson hit a two-out base hit up the middle that brought home Branham after she singled and stole second.
Hunt made it a 6-1 game in the fourth as she lined a one-out pitch from Flesher off the scoreboard in left field.
The Bulldogs cut the lead to 6-3 with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning. Shelby Fisher walked to open the inning, and Bainbridge reached on a catcher's interference call. Two batters later, Smith ripped an RBI double to left-center to score Offutt, who re-entered the game to run for Fisher.
Nesbit capped the inning with a base hit that brought home Bainbridge.
Alabama, however, answered with four runs in the bottom of the sixth on an illegal pitch by Sherrod, a two-run double from Amanda Locke and an RBI single by Traina.
The Crimson Tide plated the game's final three runs on a sixth-inning three-run home run by pinch-hitter Courtney Conley.
The two teams conclude the series at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Alabama 6, Mississippi
State 2 (Apr 16, 2011 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
(Game 1)
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Mississippi State... 200 000 0 - 2 3 1 (21-22, 8-9 SEC)
Alabama............. 000 204 X - 6 7 1 (39-5, 13-4 SEC)
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Pitchers: Mississippi State - Stephanie Becker and Sam Lenahan. Alabama - Kelsi Dunne and
Kendall Dawson.
Win-Kelsi Dunne(19-2) Loss-Stephanie Becker(6-4) T-2:00 A-3132
HR UA - Whitney Larsen; Jazlyn Lunceford.
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 61, W at 9 mph
Alabama 13, Mississippi
State 3 (Apr 16, 2011 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
(Game 2)
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Mississippi State... 010 020 - 3 7 1 (21-23, 8-10 SEC)
Alabama............. 221 143 - 13 12 2 (40-5, 14-4 SEC)
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Pitchers: Mississippi State - Kylie Vry; Misty Flesher(2); Shana Sherrod(5) and Sam Lenahan.
Alabama - Jackie Traina; Lauren Sewell(6) and Kendall Dawson.
Win-Jackie Traina(16-3) Loss-Kylie Vry(8-11) T-2:35 A-3395
HR MS - Sam Lenahan.
HR UA - Courtney Conley; Kaila Hunt; Cassie Reilly-Boccia.
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 67, W at 17 mph
K. Vry faced 2 batters in the 2nd.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kelsi Dunne (19-2)
L: Becker, Stephanie (6-4)
Batting:
2B: Nesbit, Courtney 1
RBI: Smith, Ka'ili 1 ; Shape, Heidi 1
SH: Cooley, Jessica 1 ; Fisher, Shelby 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bainbridge, Ali 1 ; Smith, Ka'ili 1
HBP: Bainbridge, Ali 1 ; Lenahan, Sam 1
Batting:
2B: Jennifer Fenton 1
HR: Whitney Larsen 1 ; Jazlyn Lunceford 1
RBI: Whitney Larsen 2 ; Jazlyn Lunceford 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Jennifer Fenton 1 ; Whitney Larsen 1 ; Keima Davis 1 ; Kaila Hunt 1 ; Cassie Reilly-Boccia 1 ; Jazlyn Lunceford 1
CS: Kayla Braud 1 ; Kaila Hunt 1
HBP: Whitney Larsen 1 ; Jackey Branham 1
