Mississippi State
7-2
#17 Louisiana
8-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| Louisiana | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 6 | 5 | 1 |
Bulldogs Suffer 6-3 Setback to No. 17/18 Louisiana
February 24, 2012 | Softball
CLEARWATER, Fla. - With the cleanup hitter at the plate representing the tying run, the Mississippi State softball team barely missed out on some Bully magic, falling 6-3 to No. 17/18 Louisiana Friday afternoon in the Bulldogs' first game of the NFCA Leadoff Classic at the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex. The loss dropped the Maroon and White to 7-2 on the young season, while the Ragin' Cajuns improved to 8-0.
"Even though we are not satisfied because we wanted to start the weekend off with a win against a ranked opponent, there are a lot of positive things we can take away from this outing," first-year head coach Vann Stuedeman said. "Individually, Ka'ili Smith had a great game and Kylie Vry was the first pitcher this season to shut down the nation's leading run producer (Christi Orgeron)."
Vry (3-1) took her first loss of the season despite doubling UL's season average in strikeouts. The Ragin' Cajuns' were averaging 13 runs per game (9.6 earned) on offense in their first seven games of 2012, but were held to less than half that by the junior. The lefty pitched her fourth complete game of the season, giving up six runs (three earned) over 6.0 innings, striking out five and walking three. Sophomore righty Shana Sherrod faced one batter in the bottom of the sixth.
Senior first baseman Ka'ili Smith registered her second multi-hit game of the season with a 3-for-4 performance, including her first home run of 2012. Junior shortstop Erin Nesbit and redshirt senior designated player Brittany Bell each went 1-for-3, while sophomore center fielder Jessica Offutt continued to provide production from the nine spot with a 1-for-2 outing.
Both teams played scoreless softball through the first two and a half innings, but the Ragin' Cajuns finally got on the board with a five-run third inning. The home team from Lafayette loaded the bases with no outs, before Vry forced reigning USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week Christi Orgeron to popout to second base. Louisiana scored the game's first run when cleanup hitter Paige Cormier blooped it to right, and the ball fell just in front of an all-out dive by MSU right fielder Jessica Cooley. With the bases loaded and a 1-0 lead, UL plated two more on a Bulldog error. The Cajuns scored again on a groundout to third, and pushed their fifth run across with a double to right field by catcher Sarah Draheim.
The Maroon and White responded immediately in the top of the fourth, which started when sophomore catcher Sam Lenahan was hit by a pitch. Senior Brittany Gates pinch ran for Lenahan, but was out at second on a fielder's choice by sophomore second baseman Heidi Shape. Shape advanced to second on a groundout by freshman third baseman Swayze Hollenhead, and was knocked in on a two-out RBI double to the wall in right by Nesbit. On the second pitch of Cooley's at-bat, Nesbit reached third on a passed ball and raced to the dish on after a throwing error to third by UL's catcher.
Leading 5-2 going into the bottom of the sixth, UL scored another run on a MSU illegal pitch. The home Cajuns started the top of the seventh off by retiring two-straight batters before State managed to grind its way back into the game. Down to their last out, Smith sent a 2-2 offering to opposite field for her first round-tripper of the season. With the lead cut to three, junior Shelby Fisher reached base on a walk, and moved over to third when Bell found space in the gap in left with a stand-up double. With two in scoring position, cleanup hitter Sam Lenahan stepped into the box as the tying run. The sophomore catcher fell behind 0-2 early, but took a walk on the third pitch. The fourth pitch proved to be the final one of the game, as Lenahan grounded out to shortstop for the last out of the contest.
The Bulldogs have three hours off before facing tournament host South Florida at 6 p.m. ET (5 p.m. CT) at the Moore Complex. For live in-game updates, follow the MSU softball program on Twitter at Twitter.com/MStateSB.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Kylie Vry snapped the season-long hitting streak of reigning USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week Christi Orgeron. The UL slugger entered today's game batting .708 with a nation-best 27 RBIs, but went 0-for-4 against the junior lefty from MSU.
- The Ragin' Cajuns' were averaging 13 runs per game (9.6 earned) on offense in their first seven games of 2012, but were held to a season-low tying six (three earned) by Vry. After striking out an average of 1.9 times per contest, UL struck out five times against Vry.
- Ka'ili Smith, Shelby Fisher and Brittany Bell reached base safely for the ninth-consecutive game to start the season.
- Smith's seventh-inning home run to left was her first since Feb. 25, 2011, vs. Georgia State.
- Fisher's career and team-best eight-game hitting streak came to an end with an 0-for-2 outing.
- Out of State's 43 RBIs this season, 24 have come with two outs.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Brignac, Ashley (4-0)
L: Vry, Kylie (3-1)
Batting:
2B: Bell, Brittany 1 ; Nesbit, Erin 1
HR: Smith, Ka'ili 1
RBI: Smith, Ka'ili 1 ; Nesbit, Erin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith, Ka'ili 1 ; Shape, Heidi 1 ; Nesbit, Erin 1
HBP: Lenahan, Sam 1
Batting:
2B: Myers, Nerissa 1 ; Draheim, Sarah 1
RBI: Cormier, Paige 1 ; Cherry, Brianna 1 ; Haack, Matte 1 ; Draheim, Sarah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Murphy, Erikka 1 ; Myers, Nerissa 1 ; Cormier, Paige 1 ; Cherry, Brianna 1 ; Smith, Katie 2
SB: Smith, Katie 1
HBP: Myers, Nerissa 1
