Six-Run Fourth Gives No. 2 Alabama Win Over MSU

Sunday, April 1

Starkville

1:00 PM

Mississippi State

19-18, 0

#2 Alabama

35-1, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Alabama	1	0	0	6	0	1	1	9	6	1
Mississippi State	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	3	9	1

Six-Run Fourth Gives No. 2 Alabama Win Over MSU

April 01, 2012 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

Starkville, Miss. - Mississippi State left 10 runners on base, including the bases loaded in the fourth and fifth inning, en route to a 9-3 setback to No. 2 Alabama Sunday afternoon at the MSU Softball Stadium. The Bulldogs fell to 19-18 overall, including a 3-13 mark inside the Southeastern Conference.

"Our identity as a team is that we fight until the very end," Head Coach Vann Stuedeman said. "Teams now recognize they are going to have to bring it for seven full innings, because we are going to scratch and claw our way until the very last out."

Bulldog batters Ka'ili Smith (2-for-4), Sam Lenahan (2-for-4) and Brittany Gates (2-for-3) each collected multiple hits for the Maroon and White, who out-hit the Crimson Tide by a 9-6 margin. One of those nine hits was a seventh-inning solo home run by senior designated player Brittany Bell, her eighth of the 2012 campaign.

For the first time this season, Stuedeman used all five pitchers on her staff. Junior left-hander Stephanie Becker started in the circle and gave up seven runs (five earned) on five hits and three walks. Shana Sherrod, Lindsey Dunlap, Misty Flesher and Kylie Vry combined to give up just one hit and a run over the final 3.2 frames.

The Highway 82 rivals played evenly matched softball through the first three stanzas, heading into the fourth deadlocked in a 1-1 tie. That's when the team from Tuscaloosa broke the game open, beginning with a Kaila Hunt solo home run to lead things off. Becker then loaded the bases thanks to a Bulldog error, bunt single and a walk. That brought up nine-hole hitter Danae Hays, who deposited Becker's first pitch over the wall in left field for a grand slam and a 6-1 lead in favor of the Crimson and White. The visitors continued the inning with a four-pitch walk by Kayla Braud, which caused Stuedeman to replace Becker with Sherrod.

Sherrod threw two pitches, one of which Braud stole second, before being replaced on the rubber by Dunlap. The senior then issued two-consecutive walks to load the bases for Alabama again, before surrendering a deep flyball to center field by Hunt. The sacrifice fly allowed Braud to score, giving the Tide a 7-1 advantage in the middle of the fourth.

State responded with back-to-back singles to open the home half of the fourth, and filled the bases up when redshirt sophomore shortstop Erin Nesbit reached first on interference from the catcher. That brought up Gates, who used her speed to drive in MSU's second run of the day on an infield single. With momentum favoring the Maroon and White, Alabama pitcher Jackie Traina was able get out of the bases-loaded jam unscathed.

Traina repeated the feat in the bottom of the fifth, before her offense plated a run in both the sixth and seventh inning to take a commanding 9-2 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh. That's when Bell homered to right-center field for the final run of the game, as MSU was unable to erase the six-run deficit.

Starkville's team will now take to the road for the next week, beginning with a non-conference midweek tilt against Southern Miss in Ridgeland, Miss. The 6:30 p.m. first pitch against the Golden Eagles will take place at Freedom Ridge Park. For more information regarding MSU softball, follow the team on Twitter at @MStateSB and like the team at Facebook.com/MStateSB.