Softball Battle of the Bulldogs Set For This Weekend
March 08, 2012 | Softball
Starkville, Miss. - Mississippi State softball (14-7) will have Georgia on its mind this weekend as the Maroon and White meet the No. 7/7 Georgia Bulldogs (19-2) for a three-game series this weekend at the MSU Softball Stadium. Friday's battle of the Bulldogs starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Dawg Diamond, while Saturday and Sunday's first pitches are slated for 1 p.m.
"Our players are starting realize that we have what it takes to be successful," head coach Vann Stuedeman said. "Hopefully we can carry over some positive confidence after hanging in there with the number three team in the nation (Florida)."
Under the leadership of Stuedeman, the Maroon and White have won six of its last eight games. As a result, MSU received votes in this week's ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top-25 poll. In the circle, State has cut last year's ERA in half, taking it from a school-record high 4.90 clip to a much more manage 2.09 mark.
The 2.09 ERA is thanks in part to junior southpaw Stephanie Becker, who anchors a dynamic staff. Coming into the Georgia game, the Chicago native has already matched last year's win total (7-11) with a sterling 7-2 record. With a team-high 59 strikeouts, Becker has gone the distance a team-best five times and has hurled three shutouts this season.
Offensively, State ranks near the top in most SEC categories, including: hits (3rd, 175), on-base percentage (4th, .433), doubles (T-4th, 24), triples (2nd, 7), total bases (4th, 270) and hit by pitches (1st, 26). The Bulldogs are led by reigning USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week Jessica Cooley and redshirt senior Brittany Bell. Cooley, who was also named SEC Player of the Week, became the second player in school history to receive the national accolade, joining two-time All-American and SEC Player of the Year Iyhia McMichael (Feb. 24, 2004). Bell has mashed the ball as well in 2012, ranking second in the conference in on-base percentage (.613) and slugging percentage (.941).
Georgia is led on offense by senior catcher Kristyn Sandberg, who is raking at a .429 rate with seven home runs and 22 RBIs in 21 games. On the rubber, sophomore Morgan Montemayor is the go getter with an 8-1 record through 10 starts, striking out 66 batters and walking 24 foes.
Miss MSU Stephanie Stanford will throw out the first pitch on Facebook Friday, where the first fan to post on MSU Softball's Facebook wall after first pitch will win a prize. Going on throughout the weekend will be the popular Bulldog Bingo and Movie Trivia events. On Military Sunday, the "Fan of the Weekend" will throw out the first pitch. As always, softball aficionados will have the chance to win a Vanntastic t-shirt with every extra-base hit.
Live video streaming of all three games will be available online to HailStateTV subscribers (www.HailState.com/hstvlive).
Following the Georgia series, Starkville's team will travel to South Carolina for a doubleheader Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. CT. For more information regarding the showdown, follow the team on Twitter at @MStateSB and like the team at Facebook.com/MStateSB.
