Mississippi State
24-30, 10-17
#7 Georgia
43-10, 16-9
Bainbridge Homers Twice In Tough Loss To No. 7 Georgia
May 07, 2011 | Softball
ATHENS, Ga. - Ali Bainbridge hit two home runs, and freshman Heidi Shape added another as Mississippi State dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 decision to No. 7 Georgia Saturday afternoon at Jack Tuner Stadium in Athens, Ga.
Bainbridge joined classmate Courtney Nesbit in hitting two home runs in a game this season as she belted her fifth and sixth home runs of the year. The two round-trippers, combined with a hit on Friday, put Bainbridge at 199 hits for her career.
"Ali had two big home runs for us, and I thought she was going to have another in her first at-bat," MSU head coach Jay Miller said. "She's been struggling at the plate lately, so hopefully this gets her back on track heading into tomorrow and next week's SEC Tournament."
Shape, playing near her hometown of Duluth, belted her fifth home run of the year to open the fifth inning.
Playing her final games in her home state, Nesbit continued her stellar weekend with a 3-for-4 outing on Saturday. The Acworth native is now 5-for-8 in the opening two games of the series.
"Courtney has had a really good series for us so far. She's playing in her home state in front of a lot of family and friends, and hopefully she can continue it tomorrow and help us win a big road series," Miller said.
Despite collecting seven hits in the game, Mississippi State (24-30 overall, 10-17 SEC) left nine runners on the bases in the contest.
Mississippi State had an opportunity to jump out to the early lead in the top of the first inning. With two out, Ka'ili Smith kept the Dawgs alive with a walk. Courtney Nesbit followed with her third hit of the weekend, and Sam Lenahan was intentionally walked.
UGA starter Sarah McCloud got out of the jam, however, as sophomore Jessica Cooley popped out to end the inning.
"It was a frustrating day out there today. We had the bases loaded twice and had runners in scoring position in some other innings, but we weren't able to capitalize on the opportunities we had," Miller said. "We had good enough pitching to win the game, but a miscue on defense ended up costing us. If you clean up those little things, you have the opportunity to win those one-run games."
McCloud was one of three Georgia pitchers in the game. She earned the win and improved to 5-2 after allowing two runs and two hits over four innings. Katie Murphy tossed 0.1 innings before Morgan Montemayor allowed a run over the final 2.2 innings to claim her first save of the year.
Georgia (43-10 overall, 16-9 SEC) answered in the home half of the second as Brianna Hesson hit a one-out single and scored two batters later when Brittney Hubbard lined a two-out Kylie Vry pitch over the wall in center field.
Hubbard and Laura Trout paced Georgia with two hits each.
Drawing her second-straight start, Vry fell to 8-12 as she was touched for two runs and three hits over two innings.
MSU cut the lead in half in the top of the third as Bainbridge took the first pitch of the inning over the wall in right field.
State had an opportunity to tie or take the lead, but the Bulldogs were unable to capitalize with the bases loaded. Smith drew her second walk of the contest, and Nesbit followed with a single. Lenahan then beat out a bunt single, but she was doubled off the bag at first on a Cooley line drive to second.
Georgia extended the lead to 4-1 with two runs in the fourth off MSU reliever Misty Flesher, who entered the game to begin the third and allowed two runs over 1.2 innings. Hubbard drew a one-out walk, and Trout followed with a single to left-center.
Hubbard went to third on Trout's hit, and Brittany Gates' throw to the bag bounced away from Raines, allowing Hubbard to score. Ashley Pauly capped the frame with a triple off the wall in right field.
Sophomore Stephanie Becker, MSU's third pitcher of the game, struck out Taylor Schlopy to end the inning, and she went on to toss the final 2.1 innings, allowing just two UGA hits.
Mississippi State sliced the lead to 4-3 in the top of the fifth as Bainbridge lined a pitch from UGA reliever Morgan Montemayor over the scoreboard in left field.
After Becker kept the host Bulldogs off the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth, Smith opened the seventh with her third walk of the game to put the tying run on base. A Nesbit groundout advanced her to second, and she took third on a wild pitch. The Dawgs were unable to bring her home, however, as Montemayor record a pair of strikeouts to even the series.
The rubber game between the two teams is set for 12:30 p.m. CT on Sunday. Live audio of the game can be heard at www.mstateathletics.com/m2mlive.Georgia 4, Mississippi State 3 (May 07, 2011 at Athens, Ga.)
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Mississippi State... 001 011 0 - 3 7 1 (24-30, 10-17 SEC)
Georgia............. 020 200 X - 4 7 0 (43-10, 16-9 SEC)
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Pitchers: Mississippi State - Kylie Vry; Misty Flesher(3); Stephanie Becker(4) and Sam Lenahan.
Georgia - Sarah McCloud; Katie Murphy(5); Morgan Montemayor(5) and Ashley Razey.
Win-Sarah McCloud(5-2) Save-Morgan Montemayor(1) Loss-Kylie Vry(8-12) T-2:05 A-1608
HR MS - Ali Bainbridge 2 (6); Heidi Shape (5).
HR UG - Brittney Hubbard (4).
McCloud faced 1 batter in the 5th.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sarah McCloud (5-2)
L: Vry, Kylie (8-12)
S: Morgan Montemayor (1)
Batting:
HR: Bainbridge, Ali 2 ; Shape, Heidi 1
RBI: Bainbridge, Ali 2 ; Shape, Heidi 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bainbridge, Ali 2 ; Shape, Heidi 1
CS: Bell, Briana 1
Batting:
2B: Brittney Hubbard 1
3B: Ashley Pauly 1
HR: Brittney Hubbard 1
RBI: Brittney Hubbard 2 ; Ashley Pauly 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brianna Hesson 1 ; Brittney Hubbard 2 ; Laura Trout 1
HBP: Taylor Schlopy 1
