State Holds Off Redhawks, 5-2, To Remain Unbeaten
May 25, 2016 | Softball
* Official Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Courtney Bures' three-run homer off the leftfield scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning gave Mississippi State starter Ragan Blake more than enough run support and the Bulldogs finished off a perfect opening day at the 2006 Bulldog Round-Robin with a 5-2 victory over Southeast Missouri State in the nightcap.
Bures' first homer of the season highlighted a 1-for-2 night at theplate for the sophomore all-American, but Nakita Boyce drove in a runand scored once on a 3-for-4 hitting line that led the Mississippi State(11-0) offense. Hayle Guess scored a pair of runs, walked and doubled ona 1-for-3 night to stretch her hitting streak out to 11 games.
Jenn Monaghan homered on a 2-for-3 plate performance to pace the Redhawks (1-1).
MSU starter Ragan Blake (6-0), who battled the flu for much of the week, earned her sixth-straight victory in as many complete games, striking out seven and walking none despite surrendering a pair of earned runs. SEMO starter Amanda Glenn (0-1) offset a six-strikeout performance by allowing five runs on nine hits and three walks.
Ragan has been sick all week. She hasn't been to practice and she hasn't thrown a pitch, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. I thought she did a great job for being in bed all week. She hung a couple of pitches and they hit them out, but she threw well.
We're off to a great start, but we have to keep it going. We have to finish what we started. The start is all well and good, but it's how you finish that matters. We have some confidence under our belts, but we just need to keep it going the rest of the weekend and then build on it for a couple big tournaments on the road.
MState needed just two at-bats to forge a 1-0 lead, getting Guess into scoring position on a walk and a stolen base, before Boyce finished the damage with a single to left centerfield. Monaghan blasted Blake's second offering in the second inning over the fence in leftfield to tie the score, but the Bulldogs retook the lead in the fourth when Blake helped her own cause with a two-out single to right centerfield that brought Sammie Jo Bailey racing home from second base.
The Bulldogs used a clutch fielding error and an ensuing single to put two more runners on in the fifth and used Bures' blast to put the game out of reach. Stephanie Mata hit SEMO's second solo homer of the game with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to pull within three, 5-2, but Blake made sure the Redhawks did not get any closer, retiring six of Southeast Missouri State's final eight batters of the game.
Mississippi State will resume action in the 2006 Bulldog Round-Robin on Saturday in an afternoon doubleheader, first taking on Alcorn State (1-10) at 2 p.m., before engaging in rematch with Northwestern State (6-6) immediate following. Southeast Missouri State (1-1) and the Demons will face each other in the day two opener at 10 a.m. Admission to the MSU Softball Field is free.
