Bulldogs Ruffle Georgia Southern With Comeback Triumph, 7-4
May 25, 2016 | Softball
Official Game Statistics
MARIETTA, Ga. -- Fifth-seeded Mississippi State rallied for seven unanswered runs after a three-run home run by Georgia Southern in the third to stave off an upset bid by the with a 7-4 thumping of the Eagles late Saturday evening in championship bracket play at the Georgia Tech Buzz Classic in Marietta, Ga.
Mississippi State (17-6) got multi-hit tallies from three different players, including newcomers Michelle Kinney (2-for-2, 2 RBI) and Lindsay Hunley (2-for-3, 2 RBI) who both belted home runs in the Maroon and White rally. Jennifer Jessup stretched her hitting streak out to a season-long eight games on a 2-for-3, 2 RBI performance, while Katie Johnson scored a pair of runs on a 1-for-2 hitting line. Sam Steiner turned in a three-run home run to pace the Eagles.
State righthander Melissa Massey (6-2) collected her third-straight victory for the Bulldogs, scattering eight hits and striking out six over her team-best sixth complete game of the campaign. A.J. Street saddled the loss for Georgia Southern, allowing all 10 Mississippi State hits and six earned runs.
"This is just a goofy tournament with a really strange format," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "I thought the kids showed some character tonight. Melissa gave up the early home run, but we came right back and swung the bats and put some runs on the board. We won the game after battling the weather and everything else and I was pleased with that."
Georgia Southern got a walk and a one-out single in the third to set the table for Steiner's shot that gave the Eagles a quick 3-0 lead, but the Bulldogs got a solo homer from Kinney in their half of the frame, then used nine at-bats to plate four runs in the fifth and take their first lead of the contest, 5-3. The Bulldogs added a pair of insurance runs on Hunley's two-run blast in the sixth and Georgia Southern got a solo homer from Heather Smith in the seventh to provide the final.
Mississippi State will now move on to face fourth-seeded Ohio State at 9 a.m. in Sunday's quarterfinal action at the Al Bishop Softball Complex. The winner of that contest will move on to face the winner of the Florida A&M/Georgia Tech contest at 11 a.m. The championship contest of the 2005 Buzz Classic will begin at approximately 1 p.m.
