Bulldogs Oust Sixth-Seeded South Carolina On 4-1 Triumph
May 25, 2016 | Softball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Seventh-seeded Mississippi State plated a pair of runs in the first two innings to give more than enough run support to a tag team pitching gem by Kelli Miller and Ragan Blake and stave off elimination from the 2005 SEC Tournament with a 4-1 victory over sixth-seeded South Carolina Friday afternoon at the Florida Softball Stadium.
The win helped State (33-28) avoid its first 0-2 showing at the league's championship event since 2003 and improved the Bulldogs' record to 11-15 in SEC Tournament play in eight appearances. South Carolina (28-28-1), who took last weekend's series with the Maroon and White in Columbia, S.C., dropped consecutive games to MState for the first time since the 1999 season when MSU took the final game of the season series, as well as an elimination game in the SEC Tournament.
Jennifer Jessup drove in one run, scored twice and made a dazzling diving catch in the late innings to highlight a Bulldog squad that, despite mustering just one hit against second-seeded Alabama on Thursday, erupted for eight hits against the Gamecocks. Jessup and Lindsay Hunley both turned in 2-for-3 plate tallies, with Tanelda McDonald (1-for-4) and Courtney Bures (0-for-3) both producing a lone RBI.
Margaret Person singled three times in as many trips to the plate for the Gamecocks, who also got base hits from four other players. Stefanie Norman produced USC's only run of the game on a pinch-hit RBI single in the fifth.
Miller (13-11) showed utter dominance of the South Carolina batting order through the first two innings of play and picked up the win after getting some help from her defense at key points in the match-up. The Colorado native scattered five hits and struck out a pair in four and two-thirds innings from the circle to pick up the win for MSU. Blake tallied her seventh save of the season after allowing just two hits over the last nine outs of the game.
USC starter Aleca Johnson (7-9) surrendered four runs (two earned) on seven hits and a trio of walks over six innings of work to saddle the loss for the Gamecocks, with reliever Kate Pouliot allowing one hit in a scoreless seventh inning for the no decision.
"Our pitchers got ahead of their batters the entire game and that makes a big difference, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. We got Kelli some runs early and that helps as well. We had some big plays defensively. (There was a) big play by Courtney Bures to save a run when the game was on the line. I thought it was a big, big, play and Jennifer Jessup made two great plays out in left field."
Jessup and Hunley both singled to lead off the game, before the Bulldogs used a fielding error by left fielder Lisa Longo on a deep fly ball from Bures to plate the game's first run. State would add to their lead in the second with a trio of hits, as well as a throwing error by Longo, to take a 2-0 lead into the third.
USC cut its deficit in half on Norman's clutch hit in the bottom of the fifth, but MSU would add pair of insurance runs in the seventh on a sac fly from Bures, as well as a RBI single from McDonald.
South Carolina had its best chance to score early, putting its first two runners on in the third via base hits, but Miller regained her composure to freeze Darcy Norem on a called third strike, before Jessica Josker hit into an inning-ending double play to get State out of the jam. The Gamecocks threatened to score again late in the game after getting a two-out single from Ashley Smith, but MSU escaped again after Longo's bloop hit to left field was snared on a diving catch by Jessup.
"That's what so great about this team is that they're always there to cheer you on and are always there for you, Blake said. Losing is always hard for every team, but I think coming out saying ?€˜this is this game, that (Thursday's loss) was the past' is always good.
Mississippi State will continue on in SEC Tournament action on Saturday morning when the Bulldogs face the loser of Saturday evening's winner's bracket contest between top-seeded Georgia and fourth-seeded Tennessee. First pitch of the elimination game has been slated for 11 a.m. EDT.
Saturday's day three action can be heard live on WMSV 91.1 FM, with live in-game statistics available via a stats link at the official Internet home of the MSU athletic department, www.MStateAthletics.com.
