Bulldogs Finish Off Season Sweep Of Southern Miss, 5-2
May 25, 2016 | Softball
The win marked State's (25-18) first victory in Hattiesburg since April 3, 2002, and gave the Bulldogs their first season series victory since taking five match-ups with the Golden Eagles (19-22) during the 1986 campaign. The win completed a home-and-home doubleheader with USM that began with a 9-0 victory for MSU in Starkville on March 2.
Freshman Courtney Bures walked and singled twice in four trips to the plate to push her season average out to .426, while sophomore Katie Cooley hit her fifth home run of the campaign to highlight a 1-for-4 night at the plate to pace the Maroon and White. Rookie Lindsay Hunley turned in a 2-for-4 hitting line for her first multi-hit night since a 2-for-3 outing against Georgia on March 12.
MSU starter Stephanie Comeaux (8-5) scattered four hits and struck out five over five and one-thirds innings from the circle to pick up her first win in five appearances. Ragan Blake tallied her fifth save of her rookie campaign, surrendering just one hit over the last five outs of the contest while striking out one. USM staff ace Krystal Crooks (10-7) saddled the loss for the Lady Eagles, allowing five earned runs on eight hits and five walks over a complete game outing.
After two relatively quiet innings of play, State was the first to make noise in the third, getting Nakita Boyce aboard via a one-out single, before using a Hunley base knock two batters later to get a pair of runners into position. Southern Miss opted to pitch around Bures, and the decision paid off as Crooks avoided any damage by inducing Jennifer Jessup into an inning-ending groundout to the first baseman.
Likewise, the Lady Eagles put together something of their own in the bottom of the frame, utilizing a leadoff walk and a single to left field to put a pair of runners on for the top of its order. However, Comeaux simmered down to slam the door on the Lady Eagles, getting a little help from her defense on a double play with the next at-bat, before getting Diane Hammes on a fly out to left field.
State continued its hot hand in the fourth, putting a pair of runners on via a one-out single and a walk, then moved both into scoring position on a pass ball by Lady Eagle catcher Sue Logan. Geddings' double into the gap in left field moments later gave MSU a 2-0 lead and, following a swinging strikeout by Boyce, Cooley hammered Crooks' second offering over the fence in left to give the Maroon and White a 4-0 cushion. Hunley and Bures both used seeing-eye singles up the middle to keep the rally going, but Crooks again got Jessup to end the frame, this time on a flyout to deep centerfield.
Southern Miss used a two-out rally to scratch the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame, using a leadoff walk issued to Charity Butler, a single from Melissa Prouty and a crucial fielding error by the Bulldogs to cut the lead to just three. USM cut their deficit in half moments later, having perfectly executed a double steal to soften their deficit to 4-2 heading into the fifth.
The Lady Eagles continued its comeback efforts in the fifth, this time utilizing its short game to get a runner to second base with one out after Comeaux had issued a free pass to Amy Brenan to begin the inning. However, the Pascagoula righthander would have nothing of it, stiking out Diane Hammes before getting Jennifer Fox on a grounder to third base.
The Maroon and White would rally for an insurance run in the seventh, loading the bases with their first three at-bats of the frame on a leadoff single by Bures and a pair of free passes, then using a deep fly ball to the warning track in centerfield by Michelle Kinney to bring Bures home from third.
Mississippi State will return to action this weekend when the Bulldogs head to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on the 10th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (41-9, 13-5 SEC) in a three-game series at the Alabama Softball Complex. The SEC West rivals will open their series in a 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon doubleheader before closing out the set on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. All three games of the weekend set will be broadcast live by WMSV 91.1 FM with Anthony Craven handling the play-by-play duties.
