Softball Suffers Saturday Setback At Arkansas; Wins Series 2-1

Saturday, April 7

Fayetteville, Ark.

12:00 PM

Mississippi State

21-19, 0

Arkansas

19-18, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Mississippi State	0	1	1	0	0	2	5	0
Arkansas	2	3	2	0	6	13	12	0

Softball Suffers Saturday Setback At Arkansas; Wins Series 2-1

April 07, 2012 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

Fayetteville, Ark. - After sweeping Arkansas in a doubleheader on Friday, the Mississippi State softball team (21-19, 5-14 SEC) suffered a 13-2 setback in five innings to the Razorbacks (21-19, 3-14 SEC) Saturday afternoon at Bogle Park. The defeat snapped MSU's five-game winning streak against its SEC West counterpart, its longest since winning five in a row from 2005-06.

"Arkansas brought it today," Head Coach Vann Stuedeman said. "We left five on base in the first two innings and they scored five runs during that stretch. That was the difference."

Bulldog left fielder Jessica Cooley had a monstrous day at the dish, going 2-for-2 with two solo home runs. The junior now has 11 on the year, placing fifth in school history for a single season.

After the Bulldogs stranded two runners on with no outs in the top of the first, Arkansas repeated its Friday game two performance with two runs on two hits in its first three at-bats. Following the two-run home run by the Razorbacks' Amanda Geile, Cooley cut the deficit in half in the top of the second by depositing a 3-2 pitch over the wall in straightaway center for a solo round tripper.

Succeeding Cooley's home run, MSU loaded the bases but failed to tie the game at two. The home team made State pay, connecting on four-consecutive two-out singles in the bottom of the second to extend the lead to 5-1 in favor of the Razorbacks.

Just as she did in the second, Cooley responded to the multiple Razorback runs by crushing a full-count pitch deep over the left-field wall in the third. With the solo homer, Cooley became the ninth player in school history to hit two dingers in a single game.

The Razorbacks, replicating the second inning, answered Cooley's solo production with numerous runs in the bottom of the third frame. Junior lefty Kylie Vry replaced MSU starter Stephanie Becker to start the inning, and after giving up a single by Geile, yielded a two-run jack to cleanup hitter Andrea Sullivan. After a scoreless fourth for both teams, the Razorbacks scored six more off Vry in the bottom of the fifth to win the game via the run rule.

Starkville's team returns home this Tuesday, April 10, for a 5 p.m. first pitch against 2011 NCAA Tournament team Jackson State. Admission is free for those that can attend, but for those that cannot, live video and audio streaming of the game will be available online to HailStateTV subscribers (www.HailState.com/hstvlive). For more information regarding MSU softball, follow the team on Twitter at @MStateSB and like the team at Facebook.com/MStateSB.