Mississippi State
23-27, 9-14
#21 LSU
33-15, 14-9
Bulldogs Come Up Short In Tough 4-2 Setback To No. 21 LSU
April 29, 2011 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Senior Chelsea Raines and sophomore Jessica Cooley collected two hits and drove in the tying runs in a two-run fifth, but the comeback fell short as No. 21 LSU scored twice in the sixth to escape with a 4-2 victory Friday evening in the opening game of a three-game Southeastern Conference softball series at the MSU Softball Field.
Raines and Cooley rallied the Bulldogs (23-27, 9-14 SEC) after freshman Sam Lenahan bounced a one-out single up the middle to spark the fifth. Lenahan stole second on a Heidi Shape strikeout, and Raines brought her home with a double, her 11th of the season, to left field.
Cooley then drove in Raines with the tying run as she hit a deep fly ball to right that appeared to be leaving the park before it hit off the wall for a triple.
LSU (33-15, 14-9 SEC), however, answered right with the deciding two runs the next half inning. Lauren Houston opened the inning with a single, and pinch-runner Katie Guillory took second when Morgan Russell was hit by a pitch.
Guillory scored the go-ahead run on a Simone Heyward infield hit, and Russell plated the Tigers' fourth run on a Juliana Santos sacrifice fly before Shaw was called out at second for leaving the base early.
Heyward, Anissa Young and Tiffany Shaw had two hits each to pace LSU.
State kept fighting and put the tying runs in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh. Courtney Nesbit was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and Lenahan drew a walk to chase LSU starter Brittany Mack.
Reliever Rachele Fico put Lenahan and pinch-runner Rachael Zdeb in scoring position on an illegal pitch, but MSU was unable to come through with the clutch hit.
The Bulldogs had multiple opportunities to punch across runs in the game, but head coach Jay Miller's squad left 12 on base, including eight in scoring position.
"We had opportunities with runners in scoring position in the first four innings, but we couldn't get the hit to drive them in," Miller said. "The bottom of the order did a good job coming through and generating some runs. We have to get some clutch hits, though, because leaving 12 runners out there is tough to take."
State's first missed opportunity came in the opening inning when freshman Briana Bell and junior Ka'ili Smith each lined one-out base hits. Smith finished the game with a pair of singles.
A fielder's choice put Bell out a third, and Mack got a strikeout to end the frame.
After State failed to capitalize on a Shape walk and a Cooley single in the second, the Tigers struck with a run in the third on a Santos sacrifice fly off Bulldog starter Stephanie Becker.
Becker, who went the distance for the second-straight game, fell to 7-8 as she was touched for four runs (three earned) and 10 hits.
LSU extended the lead to 2-0 in the fourth when Cassie Trosclair, who pinch ran for Russell after she was hit by a pitch, scored on a two-out ground ball that was mishandled by Raines at third.
Raines made up for the miscue in the home half of the inning as she led off the frame with a single. Three batters later, Bainbridge reached on a misplayed ball by Mack. Her throw sailed high at first base, and the pair advanced to third and second, respectively.
Bell was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Mack escaped the jam as she got Smith to hit a ground ball to short.
Mack ran her record to 14-5 as she surrendered MSU two fifth-inning runs and eight hits. She struck out 11 over six innings. Fico struck out the side in the seventh to claim her first save of the year.
Mississippi State will try to even the series Saturday at 1 p.m. Admission to the game, which is being billed as White Out the Tigers Day, is free. Everyone is encouraged to wear white to the game, but the first 100 fans will receive a free, white Bulldog t-shirt. Also, the Fan of the Game will receive a free pizza from Old Venice Pizza Company.LSU 4, Mississippi State 2 (Apr 29, 2011 at Starkville, Miss.)
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LSU................. 001 102 0 - 4 10 3 (33-15, 14-9 SEC)
Mississippi State... 000 020 0 - 2 8 1 (23-27, 9-14 SEC)
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Pitchers: LSU - Brittany Mack; Rachele Fico(7) and Lauren Houston. Mississippi State -
Stephanie Becker and Sam Lenahan.
Win-Brittany Mack(14-5) Save-Rachele Fico(1) Loss-Stephanie Becker(7-8) T-2:11 A-226
Weather: Sunny, 76 degrees
Mack faced 2 batters in the 7th.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Brittany Mack (14-5)
L: Becker, Stephanie (7-8)
S: Rachele Fico (1)
Batting:
2B: Anissa Young 1 ; Tammy Wray 1
RBI: Simone Heyward 1 ; Juliana Santos 2
SH: Lauren Houston 1 ; Jacee Blades 1
SF: Juliana Santos 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Katie Guillory 1 ; Morgan Russell 1 ; Cassie Trosclair 1 ; Jacee Blades 1
CS: Alex Boulet 1
HBP: Morgan Russell 2
Batting:
2B: Raines, Chelsea 1
3B: Cooley, Jessica 1
RBI: Raines, Chelsea 1 ; Cooley, Jessica 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lenahan, Sam 1 ; Raines, Chelsea 1
SB: Lenahan, Sam 1
HBP: Bell, Briana 1 ; Nesbit, Courtney 1
