Shaky Defense Helps #1 Cal Move Past Bulldogs, 9-4
May 25, 2016 | Softball
Official Game Statistics
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. -- Mississippi State put together its seventh double-digit hitting performance of the season, but No. 1 Cal took advantage of a season-high six errors by the Bulldogs to plate four runs in each of the second and third innings and remain unbeaten with a 9-4 dismantling of the Bulldogs Friday afternoon at the Palm Springs Classic.
The Bulldogs (9-4) got double-digit hitting tallies from three different players, with Madison native Tanelda McDonald driving in a pair on a 3-for-4 hitting line, but struggled behind the pitching of starter Kelli Miller for the second time in four games. Jennifer Jessup crossed the plate once on a 3-for-4 hitting line, with Blair Geddings equaling the scoring tally on 2-for-4 plate performance. Cal (8-0) got double-digit hitting lines from five different players en route to 13 hits of their own.
Miller (4-2) allowed a season-high 10 hits in three innings of work, but allowed just three unearned runs despite exiting the contest down 8-1 in the fourth. Rookie Ragan Blake turned in her fifth consecutive solid relief appearance, striking out a pair and allowing a trio of hits in three innings of work, but got the no decision.
Golden Bear starter Kelly Anderson struggled in her second consecutive appearance against the Bulldogs, but still managed to pick up the victory despite surrendering eight hits and a trio of runs in six innings of work. Staff ace Kristina Thorson, who picked up the victory in Cal's win over the Maroon and White in last year's NCAA Regionals, got the save this time after sitting down MSU's last two batters in the seventh.
"We had been struggling all year defensively," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "If you want to compete with the No. 1 team in the country, you have to play solid defense and we just didn't do that. We had a lot of breakdowns defensively and a lot of mistakes in terms of throwing to the wrong base and not backing up throws. Against a good team, you can't get away with it and especially not against the best team in the country.
"Ragan came in and pitched three quality innings against them and we really hit the ball well. We put some runs on the board and I was pleased with that aspect, but there was just too much of a letdown defensively to compete."
With neither team being able to muster a score in the first three frames of play, Cal sent nine batters to the plate in the second and utilized five hits and a Mississippi State miscue to take a 4-0 lead into the third. State answered with a run of its own in the third after a throwing error by the Golden Bears plated Keri McFarling from second, but the nation's No. 1 team sent eight more batters to the plate in their half of the inning, this time using a pair of Bulldog errors and four more base knocks, to take an 8-1 lead in the fourth.
State used a Katie Cooley sac fly in the fourth and a RBI single by McDonald in the fifth to cut the lead to five, 8-3, but the Golden Bears used another error in the bottom of the sixth to cushion its advantage back out to six. McDonald added her second RBI of the game with a seeing-eye single in the seventh, but Thorson came on to shut the door on the Bulldog rally.
