Bulldogs Back Home To Tangle With No. 10 Alabama
May 25, 2016 | Softball
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State Looking To Make A Run In Final Stretch Of Regular Season
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Having closed out a season-long eight-game road trip with a win over Southern Miss Tuesday night in Ridgeland, the Mississippi State Softball team will return home this weekend as the Bulldogs suit up to take on nationally ranked and SEC Western Division rival Alabama in a three-game series at the Mississippi State Softball Field.
The two squads will meet for the 28th and 29th times with a series opening doubleheader on Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. and will close out the set with a single game on Saturday that has been slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch. Live game action can be followed via a in-game statistics link at the official Internet home for Mississippi State Athletics, www.MStateAthletics.com. Admission to all 2004 MSU Softball home games is free of charge.
Mississippi State will enter the Easter Weekend series on a high note, having proven victorious in each of their last two outings, including salvaging its series at No. 22 Auburn with a 3-2 triumph in the series finale on Sunday. Alabama rolls into Starkville on a winning streak of its own after sweeping its series at Mississippi on Saturday and Sunday.
"We changed some people around, position-wise, and I think we are a little bit stronger defensively now than what we had been," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "I think that is going to help us a little bit. We are also getting good, solid pitching and I have been very pleased with that. Offensively, I think we have been giving ourselves opportunities, but I would like to see us take advantage of those a little more.
"I see us getting better. I think we are ready to make a run here in the last part of our conference schedule to see where we are at."
Leading six major statistical offensive categories in league play, Alabama will bring a very explosive offense into Starkville, led by the cohorts of senior all-American first baseman Jackie McClain who sports a .431 (50-for-116) batting clip to go along with four home runs and 20 RBI. However, McClain is just the feature player in a lethal Crimson Tide batting order that is currently carrying a .304 team batting average and has six players who have collected 20 or more RBI.
From the circle, Alabama has proven to be just as solid. Carrying a 1.67 team earned run average, the Crimson Tide has been paced time and time again by sophomore Stephanie VanBrakle (10-5, 1.87 ERA), despite the former junior national team ranking third on the three-armed staff in ERA. Junior Jennifer Wright (9-1, 1.22) currently maintains the lead in that category, while senior Erin Wright ranks second with a 12-3 clip and a 1.71 ERA. Collectively, the Crimson Tide pitchers have limited opponents to a paltry .186 batting clip and have thrown complete games in 80 percent (32-of-40) of their starts.
"(Alabama) didn't lose much from last year," Miller said. "They were a World Series team last year and one of the top teams in the conference. They have all their pitchers back from last year and almost all of their hitters. They are a veteran club and they are an experienced club and we have to be ready to play."
Having snapped a 14-game losing skein to the Crimson Tide with its first victory at the Alabama Softball Complex in 2003, the Bulldogs will look to get back into a series currently led by the Crimson and White, 22-5. The Bulldogs are 2-9 against Alabama in Starkville, with its last home victory in the series coming on April 19, 1998.
The Crimson Tide experienced their closest scoring series with the Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa last season in more than two years, helped by a .307 batting average posted by the Maroons in the set. MSU all-American Iyhia McMichael hit .444 against Alabama's pitching last year with a pair of home runs and seven RBI. One of her home runs was a grand slam in game two.
McMichael will enter this year's series hitting .571 (16-for-28) in her last 10 games and currently ranks second in the SEC with a .457 overall batting average.
"We had some success with their pitchers last season," Miller said. "Hopefully, it will be something that we can build on for this season because it is the same pitchers that we faced at their place last year."
