State Salvages Series At South Carolina With 3-2 Victory
May 25, 2016 | Softball
SEC Softball Tournament Bracket (PDF)
Bulldogs Get Homers From Hunley And Bures Behind Outstanding Relief From Comeaux
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Lindsay Hunley and Courtney Bures both hit solo home runs in the midst of a two-run comeback effort by Mississippi State as the visiting Bulldogs salvaged their weekend series at South Carolina with a 3-2 victory in eight innings Sunday afternoon at Beckham Field.
The win helped State (32-27, 12-18 SEC) avoid its first sweep in its series with South Carolina (28-26-1, 11-16) since 1997 and, coupled with Tennessee's sweep of LSU in Baton Rouge, La., gave the Bulldogs the seventh overall seed in the SEC Tournament to be held later this week in Gainesville, Fla.
Hunley and Bures' homers both highlighted two-hit days at the plate for the freshmen, with the Maroon and White also getting multi-hit tallies from both Tanelda McDonald and Katie Cooley who hit 2-for-4 and 2-for-2, respectively. Rookie Nakita Boyce turned in a 1-for-3 plate tally and drove in a run with her first extra-base hit of the campaign.
Senior Kristin Hall singled three times in as many trips to the plate to lead the hit column for the Gamecocks.
MSU sophomore righthander Stephanie Comeaux (10-8) surrendered just three hits and struck out five in six strong innings of relief to pick up her first victory since April 12. Starter Kelli Miller allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits in two innings, but got the no decision. Aleca Johnson (7-8) made two appearances in the series bookend before finally saddling the loss for USC, allowing three earned runs on seven hits and a pair of walks in six and one-thirds innings of action from the circle.
It was good to see the young kids step up; our freshmen drove in all three runs, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. That's a real good sign for us. We also got a great ball game from Stephanie. She just came in and shut them down which is what we needed somebody to do.
South Carolina used a pair of two-out hits in the first, capped off by a run-scoring single by Ashley Smith, but State answered to tie the score in the second on Boyce's RBI triple down the left field line that scored Cooley all the way from first base. The Gamecocks reclaimed the lead on Jessica Josker's RBI single in the bottom of the frame but, after a pair of quiet frames, the Bulldogs knotted the score back up again on Hunley's second home run of the season that shadowed the left field foul line before clearing the fence.
State put something together again in the seventh, getting Boyce on via a leadoff walk, but Jennifer Jessup grounded into a fielder's choice to record the first out of the frame and USC shortstop McKenna Hughes turned nothing into something moments later, snaring Tanelda McDonald's seeing-eye single up the middle to spark an inning-ending double play. Bures provided the final in the eighth, hammering Johnson's first pitch of the inning into the USC track and field complex just beyond the centerfield fence.
Seventh-seeded Mississippi State will return to action on Thursday morning when the Bulldogs face second-seeded and SEC Western Division champion Alabama (53-11, 23-7) in the second game of the 2005 SEC Tournament in Gainesville, Fla. First pitch has been slated for 1:30 p.m. EDT at the Florida Softball Stadium.
We really struggled with Alabama over at their place, Miller said. We have to get up for every game, no matter who we're playing, and we didn't do that over there. We have a few days to get some kids healthy and I think that will help a little bit. We'll work on some things down in Gainesville this week and then come out and play hard on Thursday.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 3, SOUTH CAROLINA 2
Mississippi State (32-27) 010 010 01 - 3 9 2South Carolina (28-26-1) 110 000 00 - 2 7 0Miller, Comeaux (3) and Geddings. Johnson (1,5), Pouliot (4) and Smith. W * Comeaux (10-8). L * Johnson (7-8). Save * None. HR * Hunley (MSU), Bures (MSU).
