Bulldogs Close Out Regular Season At South Carolina
May 25, 2016 | Softball
Game 1 Live Audio
Game 2 Stats
Game 2 Live Audio
Game Notes (attached in PDF)
State To Jockey With Gamecocks For Seeding In SEC Tournament
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Having clinched their eighth consecutive SEC Tournament berth by virtue of a Tennessee sweep of Ole Miss last weekend, the Mississippi State softball team will see their first game action in more than 10 days when the Bulldogs head to Columbia, S.C., Saturday afternoon to close out their 2005 regular season campaign in a weekend series with South Carolina.
Mississippi State (31-25, 11-16 SEC) and the Gamecocks (26-25-1, 9-15) will renew their rivalry for the 27th time in a 1 p.m. EDT Saturday afternoon doubleheader at USC's Beckham Field, before closing out the weekend set on Sunday at 1 p.m. All three of the weekend match-ups can be followed via a live statistics link at the official Internet home of the Mississippi State athletic department, www.MStateAthletics.com, with Sunday's series finale slated to be broadcast live on WMSV 91.1 FM.
Both the Bulldogs and South Carolina enjoyed rare idle time over the last 10 days, with both clinching the final two SEC Tournament berths on the shoulders of Ole Miss results. Tennessee swept its three-game series at Ole Miss last weekend to give MSU enough breathing room to nab its spot, while a doubleheader sweep of Arkansas by the Rebels in Fayetteville, Ark., on Tuesday gave the eighth and final spot to USC.
Although locked into a berth in the league's postseason gala which will take place in Gainesville, Fla., May 12-15, both teams can better their seeding in the tournament with favorable results this weekend. A series victory by the Gamecocks over the Bulldogs will thrust South Carolina into the seventh overall seed and knock the Bulldogs to eighth. A series victory by MState, coupled with a series victory by Tennessee over LSU in Baton Rouge, La., will give the Maroon and White the sixth seed and knock LSU down to seventh.
State's last game action came in the form of a 4-0 setback to Ole Miss last Tuesday in Madison, Miss., while South Carolina finished off their series victory over the Rebels with a 2-0 victory a couple of days prior. Both teams used the off time for final exams that took place on both campuses over the course of the last week.
(The layoff) helped us a lot in terms of letting the kids get some rest and we healed up a little bit after getting pretty banged up over the course of the season, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. We had good practices this week and got some things accomplished so I think we are ready to play.
Although posting just a .260 team batting clip through 52 games of the 2005 season, the Gamecocks have plenty of weapons throughout their order, including senior first baseman Meghan Cornett who currently paces USC with a .382 (60-for-157) hitting line that complements 15 extra-base hits and 21 RBI. However, the Garnet and Black boast five players in their lineup with 20 or more RBI, including sophomore McKenna Hughes who leads her squad in both home runs (8) and runs driven in (35) despite toting just a .252 (39-for-155) batting average.
From the circle, the Gamecocks have utilized a pair of pitchers down the stretch, including junior righthander Melanie Henkes (10-4, 1.98 ERA) and rookie Kate Pouliot (6-11, 4.96).
