Softball Suffers Narrow 2-0 Loss To No. 7 Georgia

Saturday, March 10

Starkville

1:00 PM

Mississippi State

15-8, 0

#7 Georgia

20-3, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Georgia	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	2	7	0
Mississippi State	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	1

Becker Throws Complete-Game Four Hitter In 1-0 Win At Southern Miss

Softball Suffers Narrow 2-0 Loss To No. 7 Georgia

March 10, 2012 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Picture-perfect weather hovered above a pitchers' duel Saturday afternoon as Mississippi State fell, 2-0, to No. 7 Georgia in front of a capacity crowd at the MSU Softball Stadium. The Maroon and White fell to 15-8 overall (1-3 SEC), while the visiting Bulldogs improved to 20-3 (1-1) in 2012.

"Stephanie Becker gave us another great outing," head coach Vann Stuedeman said. "She just did another fantastic job. We tip our hat to Erin Arevalo of Georgia for throwing a great game. We definitely had some opportunities and we will have to learn how to capitalize on those."

Becker was the hard-luck loser in the duel, falling to 8-3 after surrendering two runs on five hits with two strikeouts and no walks. Fellow junior left-handed pitcher Kylie Vry stepped inside the circle for the first time since Feb. 26, keeping MSU in the game with 2.1 scoreless innings to close the contest.

State registered seven hits on the day, but left seven on base. Seniors Ka'ili Smith (2-for-4) and Brittany Bell (2-for-3) paced the offense with two singles each. Sophomore second baseman Heidi Shape (1-for-3), redshirt sophomore Erin Nesbit (1-for-3) and sophomore center fielder Jessica Offutt (1-for-2) each tallied singles as well.

Knotted in a scoreless tie after three, Georgia plated one run in both the fourth and the fifth inning. To start the fourth frame, UGA left fielder Niaja Griffin doubled down the left-field line. After Becker retired three-hole hitter Tess Sito and cleanup batter Kristyn Sandberg with two pop flies in foul territory, designated player Ashley Razey drove Griffin in with a single to center.

Clinging to a slim 1-0 margin heading into the fifth, the visitors from Athens doubled their lead with a solo home run by third baseman Gracie Goulder that fell just over the left-field wall.

Down to its last out, Starkville's team had one last chance to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Freshman Ashley Phillips pinch hit for Offutt and took a 3-2 offering for a base on balls. With Phillips on first and Smith representing the tying run at the dish, the senior catcher grounded out to first unassisted on a full count for the final play of the game.

The rubber game of the series takes place Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Dawg Diamond. Live video streaming of the game will be available online to HailStateTV subscribers (www.HailState.com/hstvlive).

Military Sunday will feature the popular Bulldog Bingo and Movie Trivia events. As always, softball aficionados will have the chance to win a Vanntastic t-shirt with every extra-base hit. For more information regarding the showdown, follow the team on Twitter at @MStateSB and like the team at Facebook.com/MStateSB.