Bulldogs Make Short Work Of Southern Miss, 9-0
May 25, 2016 | Softball
Official Game Statistics
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Jennifer Jessup and Courtney Bures both hit home runs behind a three-hit shutout from senior righthander Melissa Massey to help Mississippi State cruise to the most lopsided win in its 31-game series with Southern Miss, 9-0 in six innings, Wednesday evening at the MSU Softball Field.
Bures, a rookie from Haymarket, Va., highlighted a 3-for-3 night at the plate for the Bulldogs (12-6) with her eighth home run of the season, while sixth-year senior Jennifer Jessup highlighted a 2-for-3 game of her own with a three-run shot in the third inning. Amory native Keri McFarling tallied her fifth multi-hit game of the season on a 2-for-3 hitting line with a walk and a pair of runs scored. Ashley Davis led the Southern Miss (10-8) hitting column on a 2-for-3 performance.
Massey (4-2) cruised to her first shutout of the season and the 12th solo blanking of her career by three-hitting the Eagles in her 42nd career complete game outing. The Fayetteville, Tenn., native offset a pair of walks with three strikeouts and kept USM from reaching third base throughout the course of the contest. Danielle Wymer (2-4) took the loss for the visitors as Southern Miss fell to 9-22 all-time against the ?€˜Dogs.
The margin of victory marked the most lopsided win for either team in the history of the 31-game series, besting a 9-1 win by the Bulldogs on April 4, 1985. With their eight hits Wednesday evening, State has now recorded seven or more hits in 15 of their 18 outings this season. The contest also marked the first time in 11 games that the Maroon and White have played an error-free game.
"Melissa pitched a good game. She needed a game like that to get her confidence back up," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "She's been sort of fighting it and struggling a little bit. I also thought we did a good job at the plate tonight. We came out and swung at some bad pitches the first couple of innings, but I thought we settled down and were a little more patient. J.J. delivered the first blow and Courtney finished it off and we hit the ball solid throughout the lineup. That's a good sign going into the weekend."
After going hitless through the first frame of the game, Southern Miss lost a pair of starters when leftfielder Allison Bullard and shortstop Jessica Huerta collided when fielding an eventual triple by MSU leadoff hitter Keri McFarling. After about 10 minutes of stoppage, both were finally helped to their feet and left the contest for the emergency room. Two batters following the mishap, Bures delivered the first run of the contest on a one-out single to the gap in left field to give MSU a 1-0 lead heading into the second.
After a quiet second inning of play, State used a one-out single by Bures, along with a errant throw by Wymer, to get a pair of runners on and set the table for a monster blast by Jessup that cleared the scoreboard in left field and pushed the Maroon and White advantage out to 4-0. State used a pair of bunt singles and a walk to load the bases with its first three at-bats in the fourth, then utilized a crucial throwing error by Southern Miss catcher Sue Logan to cross the plate for the fifth time, before a sac fly by Bures pushed the lead out to 5-0.
State would add an insurance run in the fifth on a USM error, and finished off the visitors on Bures' two-run blast with two outs in the sixth.
Mississippi State will return to action this weekend when the Bulldogs head to Atlanta, Ga., for the Georgia Tech-hosted Buzz Classic. MState will begin its portion of round-robin pool play with a 1 p.m. EST Friday afternoon contest against Florida A&M (11-13) before closing out first round play against St. Francis, PA (0-7) at 6 p.m.
