Mississippi State
23-28, 9-15
#21 LSU
34-15, 15-9
Bulldogs Fall In 7-6 Heartbreaker To No. 21 LSU
April 30, 2011 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Jessica Cooley homered and Heidi Shape had two RBI in a five-run fourth inning, but No. 21 LSU scored two late runs to escape with a 7-6 victory Saturday afternoon at the MSU Softball Field.
The loss dropped State to 23-28 overall and 9-15 in SEC play. LSU improved to 34-15 overall and 15-9 in league action.
Mississippi State wraps the series and the 2011 home campaign at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. Prior to the game, which will be broadcast on SportSouth, the Bulldogs will honor Nesbit, Bainbridge and fellow senior Chelsea Raines.
An MSU win or a South Carolina loss on Sunday will seal the Bulldogs a spot in the 2011 SEC Tournament that will be held in Oxford May 12-14.
Cooley's home run on Saturday was the first of the season for the Birmingham, Ala., native, and it came a day after she hit a triple as part of a two-hit effort in the series opener. Senior Courtney Nesbit also contributed a pair of RBI, including one in State's five-run fourth.
The inability to come through with the clutch hit hurt MSU for the second-straight night, as the Dawgs stranded nine runners after leaving 12 on base in Friday's series opener.
LSU scored a run in the first and another in the third to take a 2-0 advantage, but the Bulldogs cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third on a Nesbit base hit that scored senior Ali Bainbridge. Bainbridge walked to open the inning, and junior Ka'ili Smith setup Nesbit's big hit with a single to left field.
The Tigers extended the lead to 5-1 with three runs in the fourth inning. Pinch-runner Alex Boulet slid under the tag of MSU freshman catcher Sam Lenahan with the first run. Jacee Blades, who singled earlier in the frame, scored on a misplayed ball by Bainbridge, one of four miscues in the game for Mississippi State.
LSU's final run came when Anissa Young, who had two hits and a pair of RBI, landed a single in the left-center field gap.
The Dawgs fought back and plated five runs in the home half of the fourth to jump in front 6-5. Cooley sparked the inning with a towering shot that just cleared the wall in right field.
"I thought we had some great opportunities to win the game again today. We did a great job battling back in the fourth. We could have given up trailing 5-1, but we didn't, and that was a good sign," Bulldog head coach Jay Miller said. "We have to make the plays defensively and stop walking people on the mound. It's the little things that make the difference in a ballgame, and we didn't take care of those."
A Brittany Gates walk, one of nine issued by LSU pitchers in the game, chased Tiger starter Rachele Fico. Meghan Patterson entered the circle and got an infield pop-out before hitting Briana Bell and walking Smith to load the bases.
Back-to-back free passes to Nesbit and Lenahan cut LSU's lead to 5-4 and brought Brittany Mack, Friday night's winner, to the circle. Shape greeted her with a bouncer up the middle that plated Smith and Nesbit to give the Dawgs a one-run advantage.
Mack allowed two hits and struck out six over the final 3.2 innings to earn the win and improve to 15-5.
Bulldog reliever Misty Flesher and the MSU defense were unable to hold the lead, as LSU scored a run in the fifth on an error, and another in the sixth on a Tammy Wray double to left field.
Flesher was saddled with the loss to fall to 7-6 on the season. The Lone Grove, Okla., native was touched for two runs (one earned) and three hits over 1.2 innings. Stephanie Becker threw the opening four innings, allowing two earned runs (five total) and five hits. Sophomore Kylie Vry went the final 1.1 innings, surrendering a hit.LSU 7, Mississippi State 6 (Apr 30, 2011 at Starkville, Miss.)
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LSU................. 101 311 0 - 7 9 0 (34-15, 15-9 SEC)
Mississippi State... 001 500 0 - 6 5 4 (23-28, 9-15 SEC)
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Pitchers: LSU - Rachele Fico; Meghan Patterson(4); Brittany Mack(4) and Morgan Russell.
Mississippi State - Stephanie Becker; Misty Flesher(5); Kylie Vry(6) and Sam Lenahan.
Win-Brittany Mack(15-5) Loss-Misty Flesher(7-6) T-2:20 A-215
HR MS - Jessica Cooley (1).
Weather: Clear, 76, wind S 16 mph
Fico faced 2 batters in the 4th.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Brittany Mack (15-5)
L: Flesher, Misty (7-6)
Batting:
2B: Anissa Young 1 ; Tammy Wray 1
RBI: Anissa Young 2 ; Tammy Wray 1 ; Tiffany Shaw 1
SH: Juliana Santos 1 ; Morgan Russell 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Simone Heyward 2 ; Anissa Young 1 ; Lauren Houston 1 ; Alex Boulet 1 ; Jacee Blades 1 ; Tiffany Shaw 1
HBP: Lauren Houston 2
Batting:
HR: Cooley, Jessica 1
RBI: Nesbit, Courtney 2 ; Lenahan, Sam 1 ; Shape, Heidi 2 ; Cooley, Jessica 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bainbridge, Ali 1 ; Bell, Briana 1 ; Smith, Ka'ili 1 ; Nesbit, Courtney 1 ; Cooley, Jessica 1 ; Gates, Brittany 1
SB: Bainbridge, Ali 1
HBP: Bell, Briana 1
PO: Lenahan, Sam 1
