Rebels Take Series From 'Dogs Behind Brill's Two-Hit Shutout
May 25, 2016 | Softball
MADISON, Miss. - Ole Miss got a two-hit shutout from Dana Brill and home runs from Chloe Kloezeman and DeDe Justice as the Rebels took its season series with Mississippi State on a 4-0 blanking of the Bulldogs Tuesday evening at the M&F Bank Fastpitch Classic in Madison's Liberty Park.
The win gave the Rebels (27-25, 7-17 SEC) its first series victory over the Bulldogs (31-25, 11-16) since 2003, while also cutting the Maroon and White's series lead back to single digits. The contest marked the first neutral site meeting between the two state rivals in the history of the 31-game series.
Mississippi State got one hit apiece from both Blair Geddings and Katie Johnson, but could not get much from anybody else as the Bulldogs turned in their lowest hit total since an 8-0 loss at Alabama on April 9. Callye Williams had her career-long nine-game hitting streak snapped on an 0-for-2 showing at the plate, but the junior managed to reach base on all three trips to the plate - twice reaching on error, while drawing a four-pitch walk in a seventh-inning at-bat.
Kloezeman and Justice both homered for the Rebels, but Ole Miss produced the game-winning run with aggressive baserunning in the second inning.
MSU starter Kelli Miller (12-10), who has captured eight of MSU's 11 SEC victories this season, looked solid until the fourth and took the loss for the Bulldogs despite scattering just five hits over her seventh complete game of the season. Brill (9-8) pitched four innings of hitless ball to pick up the victory for the Rebels.
After a relatively quiet first inning of play, Ole Miss got something going in the bottom of the second, using its short game, as well as a leadoff walk and a two-out bean ball, to put runners at the corners. The Rebels drew a throw to second base on an attempted double steal attempt moments later and Brooke Turner evaded the tag on the throw back to the plate to give the Red and Blue a quick 1-0 lead.
Ole Miss got a leadoff single from Erin Faircloth in the fifth, but Miller appeared to have escaped any immediate danger when she retired the next two Rebels in order. However, Kloezeman took a two-strike offering from Miller deep over the left field fence a handful of minutes later to stretch the Rebel lead out to 3-0. Justice's one-out solo homer to right centerfield in the sixth would provide the final.
State loaded the bases with its first three at-bats in the top of the seventh to rattle the Ole Miss dugout a bit and get the bullpen active. Brill got a huge double play ground ball from the bat of Johnson and induced pinch hitter Sara Hickerson into a game-ending line out with the final at-bat of the game.
Mississippi State will return to action on May 7 when the Bulldogs head to Columbia, S.C., to close out its 2005 regular season campaign against the South Carolina Gamecocks. The two will open up its series with a 1 p.m. EDT Saturday afternoon doubleheader, before closing out the set on Sunday in another 1 p.m. first pitch contest.
