Softball Drops SEC Opener, 6-1, To No. 8 Georgia
March 07, 2015 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Facing a balanced and offensive-minded opponent in its Southeastern Conference opener, Mississippi State softball (17-4, 0-1 SEC) fell to No. 8 Georgia (20-2, 1-0 SEC), 6-1, on Friday afternoon at the MSU Softball Field.
"Georgia is a great team and Chelsea Wilkinson is a phenomenal pitcher," head coach Vann Stuedeman said. "We fought hard and came up short. Every pitch and every moment has a life and a history of their own. The key for us will be to move on mentally and come out fighting again tomorrow."
Starting pitcher Alexis Silkwood worked out of a first-inning jam after giving up a one out walk and then an error. State also threatened in the first, but were unable to bring any across the dish.
A home run from Georgia in the top of the second broke the scoreless draw and put the visitors ahead 1-0, a lead they wouldn't relinquish. In the third, the Bulldogs of Athens tacked on another run with small ball and a RBI single.
Silkwood settled down to retire seven straight UG batters, but the visitors would open the game up in the sixth with four two-out runs to push their advantage to 6-0 through five and a half.
Sophomore Mackenzie Toler came through in the home half of the sixth with a solo shot to right center, bringing the score to its final count of 6-1 and capping her 2-for-2 day at the dish with one walk.
For Georgia, Wilkinson (13-2) went the full seven innings, allowing five hits, two walks, along with having struck out 12 MSU batters.
Silkwood (12-3) went 5.1 innings and allowed four runs on three hits, striking out just one. Freshman Cassady Knudsen pitched 1.2 innings of relief, allowing two runs on three hits.
Game two of the series will be played on Saturday with first pitch set for 1:02 p.m. CT. Admission to all games at the MSU Softball Stadium is free. The game is set for a national television broadcast on SEC Network with Thad Anderson and Cheri Kempf set to call the game.
For more information on the MSU softball program, follow "HailStateSB" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can also find all-access coverage of the Bulldogs on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."
