Softball Heads To Samford For Midweek Contest
May 25, 2016 | Softball
Mississippi State leads the all-time series with Samford (18-14), 12-1. In Starkville, MSU leads 9-1, while in Birmingham, the Bulldogs lead 2-0. State holds a 1-0 advantage when played on a neutral field. MSU has outscored the Samford, 71-13.
Earlier this year, Mississippi State defeated Samford, 7-0, in Starkville. State pounded out 15 hits, the most Samford has given up all year. The Bulldogs threatened in the first two innings, but couldn't bring anyone home. MSU broke through in the third. Nakita Boyce and Hayle Guess led off with singles. One out later, Jessie Bailey singled to left field, scoring Guess. Lindsey Hunley then drove in Courtney Bures, and MSU had a 2-0 lead after three. State broke the game open in the fourth, scoring four times.
Freshman Chelsea Bramlett has had a strong year all season long, but none more so than this past week, when her performance in four games earned her SEC Freshman of the Week honors. The Cordova, Tenn. native hit .571 (8-14) with five runs, two RBI and a double. She also had a.643 slugging percentage and a .600 on-base percentage. Bramlett helped MSU to its first win at the M&F Bank Fastpitch Classic over Ole Miss, before leading the Bulldogs to a three-game sweep of South Carolina, its first home conference sweep since April 16-17, 2005 over Arkansas. Bramlett also set an MState record with four stolen bases in the series finale.
Kelli Miller leads the Bulldogs from the mound with a 10-6 record and a 1.60 ERA. In 87.2 innings of work, the senior has struck out 42 batters.Kelsey Nurnberg is 6-2 with a 2.38 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 67.2 innings of work.
Samford enters Wednesday's game with an 18-14 overall record, and 5-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Bulldogs are coming off a weekendthat saw them take two of three games at Austin Peay. As a team,Samford is hitting .253 with 28 doubles and 18 home runs. SU has also stolen 48 bases in only 62 attempts. Offensively, Samford is led by Shelley Stanley. The senior is hitting .313 with seven home runs, four doubles and 22 RBI. She has also scored 17 runs. Liz Pearse is hitting.318 with seven doubles, two triples and six stolenbases.
From the pitching circle, the Bulldogs are mainly led by two pitchers. Stephanie Royall leads the team with a 10-9 record and a 1.99 ERA. She also has 15 complete games, while striking out 118 batters in 123.0 innings. Susanna Meyer is 6-4 with a 4.02 ERA and 34 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .271 against SU pitching.
The Bulldogs will return home this weekend to host Ole Miss. The teams open the series Friday night at 6 p.m. (CT) before closing it out with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. (CT).
