Miller, Bulldogs Blank Ole Miss To Even Series, 4-0
May 25, 2016 | Softball
OXFORD, Miss. - Mississippi State scored a pair of runs on two out rallies in each of the fourth and sixth innings behind a dominating outing from righthander Kelli Miller as the Bulldogs evened up its season series with Ole Miss on a 4-0 blanking of the Rebels Tuesday evening in Oxford.
The win vaulted the Bulldogs (30-22, 10-13 SEC) to sixth place in the overall SEC standings, while stretching MSU's winning streak out to four games. Ole Miss (25-23) suffered their fourth consecutive loss with the outcome and dropped the Rebels another half a game behind South Carolina for the eighth and final spot in the season-ending SEC Tournament.
Callye Williams drove in three runs on a 2-for-3 hitting line that stretched her career-long hitting streak out to six games, while fellow infielder Tanelda McDonald scored twice and tallied a RBI on a 2-for-2 night at the plate. Lindsay Hunley and Courtney Bures also crossed the plate once for MSU. Ole Miss got base knocks from four different players.
Miller (11-8), in perhaps her most dominant outing since throwing a no-hitter against Louisiana Tech on February 4, held the Rebels without a hit through the first 11 outs of the contest and finished her outing allowing only three base knocks in six innings from the circle. Stephanie Comeaux came on in relief of Miller in the seventh and struck out a pair to earn her second save of the campaign. Mary Jane Callahan (10-11) who pitched a four-hit shutout for the Rebels in their win in Starkville on Thursday, saddled the loss this time for Ole Miss after allowing four earned runs on six hits and a pair of walks.
We didn't get a lot of hits, but we got some timely hits, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. We got some key at-bats from Callye and Tanelda and Lindsay Hunley had a marathon at-bat that led to our first run. Our pitching was outstanding tonight and that was a good sign as we head down the final stretch of our season.
Both teams got early scoring chances, putting runners into scoring position in their second inning at-bats, but neither side was able to score. State got a leadoff double from McDonald to begin its half of the frame, but the Rebels used heads-up defense to erase the threat, turning an attempted sac bunt to their favor in throwing out the runner at third base.
Likewise, the Rebels put a runner into position in the bottom of the inning, utilizing a leadoff walk by Justice and a throwing error by the second baseman Williams to move a runner to second base, but Miller calmed down and retired the next two Rebels in order to nix the threat.
Hunley drew a one-out walk for the Bulldogs in the fourth and advanced into position on a groundout to the left side by Bures moments later. McDonald's second hit of the night with the next Bulldog at-bat produced the first run of the game for either team when she laced a run-scoring single to left field that plated Hunley all the way from second. Williams' seeing-eye single to left field a short time later stretched the MSU lead out to 2-0.
After Ole Miss used another MSU fielding error to put a runner on with two outs in their half of the frame, Kloezeman broke up Miller's no-hit bid with a single to centerfield, but an alert Michelle Kinney picked up the ball and delivered a perfect strike to McDonald at third base to nix DeDe Justice from the base paths and get the Bulldogs out of the inning.
State put together another two-out rally in the sixth, getting a pair of free passes via a walk and a bean ball to set the table for Williams who smacked a double off the wall in left field to bring both runners racing home. The Bulldogs rallied one more time in the seventh, putting runners at the corners with one out, but Ole Miss settled down, getting a clutch out when Justice picked off pinch runner Nakita Boyce at third before Callahan got Katie Cooley on a swinging strikeout.
The Rebels singled in their first two at-bats in the bottom of the seventh to chase Miller from the circle and loaded the bases with a two-out single by Lauren Rowe, but Comeaux fanned Rebecca McIntire on a 2-and-2 count to end the game.
The Rebels and Bulldogs will wrap up their season series next Tuesday when the two meet in the series finale as part of the annual M&F Bank Fastpitch Classic in Madison. First pitch of the contest has been slated for 6:30 p.m. at Madison's Liberty Park.
The Bulldogs will return to action this weekend when the Maroon and White heads to Gainesville, Fla., for a three-game set with the 15th-ranked Florida Gators (34-12, 13-5). State and the Gators will renew their rivalry for the 23rd time in a 1 p.m. EDT Saturday afternoon doubleheader before closing out the set on Sunday in the series finale which has also been tabbed with a 1 p.m. first pitch.
