Kennesaw State Downs Mississippi State 2-1

Tuesday, March 11

Kennesaw, Ga.

4:00 PM

Mississippi State

20-5

Kennesaw State

11-10

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Mississippi State	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	5	3
Kennesaw State	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	8	0

Kennesaw State Downs Mississippi State 2-1

March 11, 2014 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

KENNESAW, Ga. – A two-out, full-count single up the middle from Courtney Sutter lifted Kennesaw State to a 2-1 eight-inning victory over Mississippi State on Tuesday afternoon at Bailey Park.

The Owls were led offensively by Natalie Rhodes and Sara Sikes, who each picked up two hits. Bulldog freshman Caroline Seitz continued her hot streak with two more hits, one double and one home run.

Mississippi State sophomore Jacey Punches started and threw the first four innings. She scattered five hits, struck out two and yielded an unearned run. Freshman Alexis Silkwood (5-1) took the loss and threw three-and-a-third innings. She surrendered two hits and an unearned run with one walk. She struck out three. Senior Alison Owen recorded one out in the eighth inning before Sutter's hit. Paige Mathews started for the Owls and threw the first five frames. She gave up three hits and one run while fanning three. Amanda Henderson tossed the remaining three frames, issuing two hits and fanning five.

The Bulldogs (20-5) put a runner on second base with one out in the top of the first and second innings, but could not push across a run.

In the top of the third, Mississippi State stranded two when Kennesaw State turned an inning-ending double play. With one out, senior Heidi Shape was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. She stole second base on the first pitch to junior Julia Echols, who beat out an infield single to put runners on the corners. Senior Sam Lenahan tried to put down the suicide squeeze, but third baseman Kara Chambers made the catch and threw back to shortstop Carly Van Auken, who was covering third base, for the inning-ending double play.

Coming off the defensive hold, the Owls mounted their first scoring threat in the bottom of the third. Van Auken doubled to left center with one out, but a foul out and groundout closed the frame.

Mississippi State left another stranded in the top of the fourth as Seitz led off with a her Southeastern Conference-leading 10th double of the campaign, but a foul out, groundout and pop out left her on base.

It was the Owls (11-10) who a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth but were held soreless. Rhodes led off with a bunt single and moved to third on a single up the middle from Sikes. With runners on the corners and no outs, Stephanie Phillips put down a sacrifice bunt that moved Sikes to second. Punches fought out of trouble with consecutive groundouts that stranded the pair.

Kennesaw State did break the scoreless draw in the bottom of the fifth and took a 1-0 lead. Pinch hitter Bianca Durant led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and advanced to third as Taylor Denton reached on a Silkwood fielding error. With runners on the corners, Denton took off for second base and senior catcher Logan Foulks' throw went into center field, allowing Durant to score. Silkwood shut the door with back-to-back strikeouts.

In the top of the sixth, the Bulldogs answered with a run to even the score at 1-1. Seitz led off with a home run to left field. Foulks followed with a bloop single to left and, after a strikeout, junior Ashley Phillips was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with one out. Sophomore Kayla Winkfield put down a bunt that rolled past a charging Chambers, but Van Auken was standing on third base, picked up the ball and retired Foulks on the force. A strikeout left the pair stranded.

Kennesaw State had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth, but was held off the scoreboard. Sikes led off with an infield single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Megan Veringa delivered a one-out single to left center that put runners on the corners. Veringa was called out for leaving early, and after a walk, a Durant groundout to third baseman Seitz kept the game even at 1-1.

The Owls ended the game in the bottom of the eighth with Sutter's key hit to win 2-1. Rhodes led off reaching on an error and Sikes was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with no outs. Angie Dascoli put down a sacrifice bunt that moved the runners up a base. Owen entered for Silkwood and retired Veringa on a foul out, but a full-count single up the middle from Sutter ended the contest.

Mississippi State continues its spring-break trip to Georgia on Wednesday with a 3 p.m. CT contest at Georgia State (11-8).

Post-Game Notes
- Mississippi State has not allowed a stolen base since the eighth inning against Baylor on Feb. 28, a span of nine games.

- MSU recorded its second double play of the campaign during the first inning. It's the first for MSU since March 2 versus Texas State.

- The Bulldogs were hit by pitches six times in the contest, tied for the most in a game by MSU since 2004. The Feb. 12, 2012, game against Memphis also featured six HBP.

- Freshman Caroline Seitz has accounted for nine of MSU's last 17 runs (52.9 percent).

- Seitz's 10 doubles are two shy of entering the MSU top-five list for doubles by a freshman.

- Seitz owns eight multiple-hit games, the most by a freshman since current senior Heidi Shape tallied eight in 2011.

- Shape was hit by a pitch three times. It is the second contest of the year she has been hit three times, matching her own MSU single-game record she set versus Nicholls State on March 1.

- Sophomore Jacey Punches lowered her earned-run average to 0.20. She began the day with the lowest ERA (0.23) in the Southeastern Conference, and the fifth-best among all NCAA Division I softball players.

- After striking out in her first career at-bat, freshman Katie Anne Bailey has singled in her last two plate appearances.